10. Reflection

            Minseok was annoyed and excited at the same time. He was irritated because you just don’t ring the doorbell at 10am on a Saturday, people are supposed to sleep late! Yet he was actually impatient since he knew the reason behind the ringing. It had been a long time since he went out with someone that wasn’t Luhan. It might just be a fake date to stop rumors but to make it seem like a real one, Minseok will be sure to have a lot of fun.

            The young boy finally opened the door to see Jongdae standing at the other side of the doorstep, looking great in casual clothes in his honest opinion, so great that he forgot to ask him how he knew his address.

            “Hey” he breathed, eyes still fixed on the sweater that made his date look just fine.

            Jongdae smiled, the boy in front of him seemed to like his choice of clothes. “Hey.” He waited for a few more seconds and sensing that there will be no movement from his friend he decided to take things at hand.

            “So, do you plan on inviting me in your house or can we go now?”

            Minseok broke out of his trance and shook his head lightly then answered as he stepped out and closed the door.

            “We’re going. What have you got planned?”

            “It’s a surprise!” he said as his smirk came back and guided them to his car. “I’m sure you’ll like it. Jump in!” he told him and held the passenger door of his car. Minseok looked at him oddly for a second and sat in the car. Jongdae closed the door then went in on his side. Soon afterwards he revved the engine and began to drive. As he sped on the road, his mind lit up just by thinking that for once, his date wasn’t stuck to Luhan’s side, Minseok’s brain was trying to find all the possible locations to which he could be driven to. ‘Is it outside of the city? I don’t see any buildings anymore… Where the hell are we going?!’

            After a half an hour ride, Jongdae finally pulled the car over the sidewalk. Minseok watched through the car window and understood that he was in the outskirts of town as he only saw large houses and a park at the end of the road. He realized he was staring when Jongdae opened his door and slyly remarked that he was waiting for him to open it by himself.

            “Why are we here?” he asked, stepping outside. “It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of people around there.”

            “Wrong, some people like to hang out in this park over there,” he pointed to the park Minseok saw earlier “with their friends. Let’s go!” he said as he handed over his hand. The older looked at it and slowly took it. Jongdae smiled and tightened his hold then pulled him in the direction of the park. When they got there Minseok’s eyes widened. Indeed they were a lot of people on a Saturday morning, he even recognized a few students of their college. But what surprised him more was the sight. It was fall, so the leaves were turning red and a few were already on the ground. There was a fountain farther away, the weather wasn’t too cold, in short Minseok loved that place! Jongdae even got him to play together with a kite he brought. They spent a nice time the morning, laughing together and even forgot that they were sometimes getting looks from their classmates.

           When midday came along, the younger told them that they were going to eat elsewhere, and had to get back to the car. Minseok spent most of his time looking outside trying to guess where he is going, but with an easy mind this time. He will enjoy this day. They stopped shortly after, back in town. A doorman opened Minseok’s door and the latter was surprised, once again, when he saw that Jongdae took them to a fancy Italian restaurant. ‘There is definitively no other student here’ he thought as he turned to the younger to tell him what was on his mind. He saw him give a tip to the doorman and went back to him. He then took Minseok by his arm and brought him inside of the restaurant, no letting him speak a word. Anyway, he was too amazed by the decor that he forgot to ask for the nth time. They sat at a table and soon a waitress was next to them serving a red wine. When she left, the two remaining males were silent.

           “So…” Jongdae coughed slightly “Are you enjoying this day so far?”

           “What, are you suddenly becoming shy?” he retorted.

           “Aish I’m just asking a question…”

           The waitress came back and saved the boys from another silence. She asked for their orders and seeing that Minseok had trouble deciding for himself, Jongdae chose for both of them. Minseok shot him an incredulous look but nevertheless gave the menu back to the waitress. One more awkward moment started with both of them trying to make small talk from time to time. When the pasta finally arrived, they both dived in, escaping the disturbing quietness.

           ‘I am enjoying this day so far, even if you’re not straightforward.’

X X X X X X X X X X X X

           Staying inside this cramped flat was getting on Kris’ nerves. There was nothing to do. Most of his friends were out, Jongdae and Chanyeol had somehow scored a date, Junmyeon was unreachable and Sehun was with Jongin both working on a choreography for the Fall event the college organized every year, for every season. Having enough of doing nothing, he decided to go for a jogging. He changed into sweatpants and put on a hoodie, took his phone and went out. He ran through the crowded side-walk until he was in the almost empty part of the city. Kris finally slowed down to catch his breath and opted to walk instead. He let himself wander mindlessly through the streets. The blond put his hands into his pockets and felt something different than his smartphone. He pulled out a white object and recognized it immediately. A butterfly made of paper. Memories of what got him irritated yesterday came back to him.

           ‘Changing? What are they trying to say by ‘changing’? This new guy is talking nonsense. Some of the students had a soft spot for him, he’s beginning to be too much famous. Even Sehun said this crap!’ Sensing that he was starting to lose his temper he put his headphones on and fished out his phone to play some music before he began to run back to his apartment, clearing his mind in the process.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

            The breeze was a nice feeling on a Saturday afternoon. Baekhyun allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment and relax on the bench he was sitting on only to reopen them a few seconds later looking frantically around him from fear of missing out the one he was looking for. He recalled their last chat, he should be searching for a man around 1, 85 meters tall wearing a blue jacket and glasses. He himself was wearing blue sneakers and headphones. They hadn’t set a peculiar time to meet, just saying that it would be in the afternoon in this park, and how they would recognize each other.

            Minutes passed by and the brunette saw a lot of people, but none was wearing a blue jacket with glasses. The only one who wore it was really small and was running to the other side of the park so it obviously wasn’t him.

            Two hours passed by and Baekhyun watched a lot of things happening. First was a happy sight, he saw a little boy running around happily because his mother allowed him to get a cotton candy and as he saw an homeless man sitting near the entrance he gave it to him. Second was a strange one. The second tallest of the Kingkas entered the park and sat near the fountain a few meters away. He seemed happy and waiting for something. Third was a funny scene. Baekhyun saw jugglers, contortionists and clowns making an appearance and played all the while promoting the circus that was in town for the week-end. Finally, and it was probably the most depressing thing that happened, his date still wasn’t there. But Baekhyun won’t let his spirit go down, he would be patient. He looked a last time around him and vaguely remarked that Chanyeol was still sitting near the fountain then chose to play on his smartphone to kill time and his evil thoughts.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

            “So uhm… Hey”

           “Hey”

           Both boys stood in front of each other, next to the coffee shop Jongdae told them to go to.

           “You must be Daehyun.”

           “Yes. And you are? How do you know my name?” said man asked.

           “Oh, I’m sorry. My name’s Youngjae and you’re kind of popular so I know you by word of mouth.”

           “It’s nice to meet you Youngjae. Should we get seated and order a cup of coffee?” Daehyun suggested.

           “Sure” Youngjae answered. They sat at a table near the large window after they ordered their coffee and pastries. While waiting for their order to come they made small talk and learned more about each other. As the pastries and coffee were served, the formal tone started to disappear and they were now acting like friends and laughing to some silly stories.

           On one lighter moment when talking wasn’t a formality since they were now at ease with each other, Youngjae watched people passing by outside of the store.

           “Isn’t that Jongdae?”

           “Where?” asked Daehyun, trying to spot him through the crowd.

           “The opposite sidewalk, near the crossing.”

           “Yes, that’s him. And he seems to be on a date.”

           “Him too? He looks like he’s enjoying it” remarked Youngjae.

           “Like us. I think we own him a favor, don’t you think?”

           “Sure” Youngjae answered. With that said, Daehyun went back to talk about another topic to try to avoid the cheesy moment he had sensed coming. The younger smiled but nevertheless listened to whatever his new friend was talking about, once again captivated by his voice.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

            Indeed, they were having a lot of fun. When they went out of the restaurant Jongdae began to run in the streets and Minseok was trying to follow him. At one point the younger stopped and laughed while the older who just caught up was trying to find his breath. Jongdae walked once again and took him by his elbow, telling Minseok a joke the latter never heard about before even if today he spent most of his time listening to his stories. He continued to talk and got his date to laugh along as he guided them through narrow streets. Jongdae stopped in front of a door circled by neon signs saying ‘PLAY’ and also ‘24/7’. He opened the door and they entered a large room full of students as well as all kind of machines. The older recognized immediately, it was an amusement arcade. He was already pulling Jongdae to a shooting machine before the boy could ask if he liked the place.

           Minseok was behaving like a child. They played most of the games of two-storey building in the 4 hours they spent here and now he didn’t want to go back home.

           “Hyung, come on! It’s already 6pm and there’s a last place I want us to go to.”

           “But it’s been so long since I’ve been here! Just one last game, please!” Minseok pleaded.

           “No. We’ve been here long enough now come with me, let’s get out of there.” answered Jongdae.

           Reluctantly, the older followed him and got in the car. He spent most of his time during the drive to god-knows-where pouting when suddenly he remembered that he had a lot of questions left unanswered this day. ‘He planned it all. But this time, I’ll know where I’m going!’

           “So, where are we going?” he asked, not beating around the bush.

           “Home.”

           “Really, that’s why you didn’t want me to stay to the arcade venue? So that you could take me back to my home? I don’t have a curfew, you know.”

           “I know. I wasn’t talking about your home” Jongdae answered, “I live a kind of far away from the amusement arcade, so the drive may take a little less than an hour.”

           “What?” Minseok had trouble understanding what was happening. “We’re going to your home? What about me? I’m still there!”

           “The last part of our date consists in you meeting my family, so technically you’re supposed to come with me” said Jongdae still looking straight at the road.

           Minseok’s blood ran cold. He? Meeting Jongdae’s family? A few days ago they were enemies and now the little who always bothered him had suddenly turned into the perfect boyfriend. Thinking about it made his head hurt, for the moment he’ll just do his best to stay calm.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

            The night is cold and Yixing was only wearing a jacket. He should be freezing but he’s too much immersed in other thoughts that being cold doesn’t cross his mind. Ever since he woke up he was trying to create a choreography for the Fall event where the dance club would be participating to recruit new dancers.

            To be precise, not everybody of the dance club would be dancing. Only the best dancers would be on stage, which is exactly why Yixing left his flat and is in the streets in the middle of the night. The pressure he was put under did not help him so he hadn’t made a progress on the choreography. In his last club meeting he got complimented by Kim Jongin (who was a prodigy and the best of this school) but also by their dance instructor who asked him if he could participate for the Fall event. Being the angel he is, Yixing accepted and since then he was brainstorming for an idea.

           But he hadn’t found one and he was now hoping that fresh air would help him. What should he do? He heard that Jongin has paired with Sehun however he had no acquaintances in the club so he would be doing a solo. This part of the reflection was the easiest to solve. Nevertheless, he still has to find out how he would impress the crowd as well as the song he would dance to. What if he fails and the crowd doesn’t like his performance? Would he be kicked out of the club? Or will he get picked upon? Okay, he was overthinking things here.

           “Hey, you! Do you have a cigarette?!”

           Yixing turned his head and saw that it was a drunken guy who was calling out at him. He muttered a quick “No, sorry” and walked away quickly. Only then he remarked that he was in a maze of small alleys, lost. He walked aimlessly for a few minutes until he heard music from not far away. He tried to follow the sound and ended up in front of a nightclub, ‘Pulse’. But he didn’t know the creepy-looking ‘Pulse’, so this find was useless. Put out, he made his way to the other side of the building planning to continue his search from there. However he didn’t get to go to the back of the club as he stopped in his tracks when he heard a familiar tune singing a familiar song.

           “Kiss kiss kiss baby, hush hush hush baby…”

--

A/N : (Hides away.)

Okay so guys I need to clarify some points. This year I'm busier than I was before so an update every two-weeks isn't possible anymore. I have two big exams to study for, and I found a Msc I really want to do which is in China so I'm also starting to learn Chinese (Yep, and a PhD? Why not? I think I need to stop with my ambition).

Plus I'm working on my fics most of the time in the train but I got so much problem with it the last two weeks that I couldn't work.

This chapter is unbeta-ed, I'll send the text to my friend this week-end so I don't know when I'll get it back.

Last but not least, even if the updates will be scarce because of my studies (wish me good luck everyone!), I won't put this story in hiatus.

See you next time my lovelies!