9. Ask him out... (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Incident #9.1  <---SH: Can we really consider this as a d-date?!

Sehun is getting odd...Minseok thinks as he scans the menu board of the bubble tea shop they’re in.  

It’s already eight in the eve. He’s bothered by his assignments, but, they can wait. Well, at least, that’s what he tries to think. It’s due on Monday, so that simply leaves him a day to finish all of them. He should have started—

“Hyung, what do you like?”

“Huh?” Minseok asks, a little bit fazed because Sehun has just interrupted his thoughts.

“The usual?” Sehun questions while raising his eyebrows.

“Ah-yeah...” He then fishes for his billfold in his pocket but a hand stops him.

“Yah—yah, hyung! No! I’m on it.”

“B-but—” Before Minseok could voice out his protests, Sehun is already pushing him away from the counter.

“Just go find us a seat, okay?”

--- (≚ᄌ≚)ℒℴѵℯ❤---

Days before the fair...

Sehun put his pen down and sighed while looking at a piece of paper atop his study table. He slumped in his swivel chair, then smiled to himself. Rereading it again, a small smile crept to his lips

This is it. He said at the back of his mind. I hope this works.

While his classmates were cramming for an assignment, Sehun was just sitting on his chair with his one hand in his pocket.

Even though Jongin was one of the busy people, he surely didn’t miss Sehun’s quietness (though it’s quite typical of him). His eyes traveled down to where Sehun’s hand was hidden. There must be something in there. Curiosity and mischief will always be at the top of his priority list. Thus, in order to satiate his hunger for info, he wrote as fast as he could. He didn’t even bother to make his handwriting at least legible or decent. Once he was done, he watched Sehun with full attention like a lion would to catch his prey. He was waiting for that right moment.

Fortunately, Sehun withdrew his hand to place it on the table. Jongin quickly moved and in a span of a second or two, he was already holding a paper.

“Hey, what’s this?” Jongin asked, unfolding the paper.

“Wha-Wait! Jongin! Ya, give it back to me!” Sehun shouted. He tried to reach for the paper, but Jongin only held it higher. “Damn you! Give me that!” He attempted once more, but this time, Jongin was pushing him with one hand while the other was outstretched so Sehun couldn’t get his hands on it.

Luckily, no one even took notice of their scene. Their classmates were either busy copying homework or jabbering away with their peers. The classroom was a wreck by the way.

“Oh~ what is this Sehuniee? Ways to—” Jongin was still holding Sehun in place, although it was kind of hard because his friend won’t stop clawing at him. “Wait! Aish...” He hissed through his teeth, then started to read again. “Ways to make—Xiu—Xiu...what the hell? Ways to make Xiumin love me...” He furrowed his eyebrows, then squinted to see if he read it right. “Who the hell is—”

“I don’t like to deal with dumb people like you so give that back!” Sehun demanded, gripping Jongin’s hand on his collar and twisting it. Still, Jongin didn’t budge.

“That hurts, you little ! But anyway, who’s this?” Jongin glanced at his side and then an idea hit him. “! Wait! I know! Don’t tell me! Minseok—Seok-min—Seo-min—Xiumin!” He laughed his usual twisted laugh that would have sent chills to anybody. “Oh my god, I’m so smart!”

“No you’re not.”

 “Yes, I am~” Jongin praised himself, but it turned to a whine when Sehun successfully snatched the paper this time and sat on his chair. “Wha—Hey! Let me read. I can help.”

“No. This is something that I should do.” As if he hasn't made himself clear, he emphasized, "I'd like to do this all by myself"

“Whatever. Let me read sensei. That might help me too, you know? I’m a healthy teenager who, at one point in time, needs to love and be loved.” 

“You don’t need love life.” Sehun threw his friend a pointed look. “In fact, you can’t have that life. You’re too self-absorbed for that.”

Jongin reacted by gripping his chest and wincing as if in pain. “Ouch. That hurts! My heart shattered into pieces!” But he reverted to normal and shrugged his shoulders, looking passively. “Anyway~ number one—” He peered at the paper and read aloud, but just enough for them to hear.

1. Always praise him (ﾟヮﾟ)

Incident #1.1:

Sehun was heading to the comfort room—probably to fix his hair because it looked like a bird’s nest—and thought of dropping by to the library to request for the next volume in a series he’s currently addicted to because buying his own is a waste of time.

  On the way to the restroom, he chanced upon Minseok who have just arrived.

Sehun cleared his throat and somehow straightened a few wrinkles on his uniform to look presentable.  “Oh hyung, you’re here!” He waved his hand.  

  Minseok smiled radiantly, as always, and greeted his student. “Hi Sehun-ah~”

Okay, Sehun initiate plan number one. You can do this, man. He prepared himself mentally and started to speak. “Looking good today hyung!” He tried to smile but, then he ran off when Minseok was about to say something.

Incident #1.2

“Uh...Just here to pass our assignments. I hope they’re not late.” Sehun peered from the door before entering completely with a sheepish smile on his face.

“Nope.” Minseok shook his head. “They’re not. Where’s Minhyuk? I thought he would—”

“Ah-Uhm- H-He had other things to do.” Sehun lied.

He had actually stolen the work from Minhyuk. Thankfully, Minhyuk had seemed to be cool with it. “Oh sure do this for me. Less work requires less energy.” His classmate had said while shrugging.

“Really? Well then, thank you for passing them in his stead.” Minseok grinned and beckoned Sehun to come over (to which the latter complied happily).

“Your tie looks nice.” Sehun blurted.

“This?” Minseok pointed at his necktie. “Someone gave this to me.”

“It’s cute actually, because it’s Spongebob. Only...” Bending a bit, he placed the notebooks on the table, then fixed the problematic tie. “It looked uncomfortable to me.”

“Y-Yeah...I-it’s pretty uncomfortable.” Minseok agreed and avoided Sehun’s gaze.

“And~” Sehun added playfully. Honestly though, he was kind of scared to say the next part. “But you’re much cuter...”

Minseok was secretly waiting for Sehun to reconsider and take it back, like always, but it didn’t happen. “Ah...okay...” Well, what should he do? Should he say “Thanks, tell that to my parents. They’re the ones who gave me this (face) anyway.”  That’s practically weird even if he just wanted to ease the awkwardness...

It must be a trick of light or whatever, but Sehun may or may not have seen that deep blush coloring Minseok’s cheek. Whether it’s his delusions or his eyes that were tricking him, it certainly made him happy.

2. Be his number one support! (emotional, physical, mental, etc.) (っ◕‿◕)っ ♥

            Incident #2.1

Sehun looked to his left and right before opening the laboratory. He sneaked in, making sure that Minseok hasn’t arrived yet. He tiptoed his way to the teacher’s desk (even though it wasn’t necessary since no one was there save for him) and quickly left an energy drink on it. Carefully, he slipped out just before the bell rang.

“Whew. Why am I so unlucky today?” Minseok whined as he pushed the door of the laboratory. He was breathless and downright sweaty all over. His leg muscles ache but he deemed it bearable. Perhaps, a minute of rest is enough.

On the way to school, the bus he had rode on suddenly stopped. The driver had explained that it’s because the engine overheated. “You can wait for the next bus.” The driver had added. Minseok wouldn’t have any of that so he had sprinted from where the bus broke to where the school is. He might be running late if he were to wait for the next bus.

He unceremoniously dropped his bag on the table. This caused the bottle to tumble and roll. Only then did he notice the drink and caught it before it could fall to the ground.

“Wow. Who left this here?” He turned the bottle in his hand and saw the sticky note on it.

Hyung! Fighting!

                 -SH

For a second, he wondered who it was from but he laughed. The handwriting was a dead giveaway.

Sehun made sure it’s not the last one.

Incident #2.2

Hyung, you can do it!

                      -SH

His desk was a mess, so he decided to clean it up. This time, the sticky note was on the table itself and he found it as he was doing his task. When did Sehun—probably when he went to the faculty room...? He started to ask, but it didn’t matter anymore.

 A small smile pulled at the corners of lips and somehow, he felt energized to teach his next class. In fact, he wanted to start already.

Incident #2.3

^♪Do you love me?

Do you love me like the way I love you babe? ^♪

Just kidding! (* >ω<)

Have nice day~

                     -SH

Upon entering the room, Minseok quickly noticed a heart-shaped paper taped on the white board. He read it as soon as his things were in their right places. The cute emoticon didn’t fail to make him laugh.  “Sehun-ah, you are really something.”

Incident #2.4

m(_ _)m

Sorry hyung~
Your headache worsened last time because of our noisiness.
Don’t worry! I've already talked to them.

                      -SH

Minseok spotted this note on his desk. It was taped to a plastic of coffee candies. He liked it, whether it’s the class’ effort or just Sehun’s...

Later that day, he used it as a bribe to make his students answer some board work. Of course! Even though he’s addicted to them, they sure as hell will keep him up all night if he eats them all by himself. Besides, the plan worked well with the students. He might use this tactic again sometime in the future.

  Incident #2.5

Sleep tight~

(≚ᄌ≚)ƶƵ

                      -SH

He found this when he was leafing through their notebooks. A yawn escaped his lips so he set all his works aside and did as what was written on that piece of paper.

He tried to open this topic to Sehun to at least thank the kid, but he’s evasive. Sehun only smiled at him. And Minseok knew that sometimes, Sehun might mean, “Let’s not talk about it hyung.”

--- (≚ᄌ≚)ℒℴѵℯ❤---

Incident #2.6

Minseok jolts when someone tapped on the table. He realizes that he’s spacing out. A large plastic cup is slid in front of him and there’s a note on its lid.

Hyung, you seem out of it
Are you all right?

He removes the paper then looks at Sehun. Managing a smile, he shakes his head. “I’m okay! I’m just...you know...”

“Do you want to go?”

“No!” He almost shouts, but somehow he finds his grip. “How about you distract me from my assignments? I’ll teach you the next lesson. Deal?” It’s not that big, right? He just needs to loosen up a bit. For once, he wants to stop worrying because it’s exhausting. Despite being anxious is his natural reaction to things.  

 “Ah, I get it!” Sehun grins, then stands to sit next to Minseok. “You’re so stressed hyung. Let me share my make-me-happy playlist~”

They share Sehun’s earphones (because he //forgot// the headphone splitter).

A familiar instrumental by a prominent pianist, Yiruma, is the first thing that Minseok hears. He instantly eases to it to the point that he absently slouches in his seat. Throughout the song, his eyes are shut.

That gentle music is replaced by a more upbeat song. He’s a little bit shocked, especially when the first verse came in. He opens his eyes to look at Sehun because aside from the fact that it’s practically a girly song, Sehun actually has it! Minseok thought that Sehun is the kind of guy who would never listen to this type of music. But it doesn’t stop there...Sehun is lip-synching!

“Sehun-ah.. what are y-“

Sehun pulls his straw from his cup, then wipes it with the tissue on the table and uses it as his microphone. While singing, he makes the weirdest, funniest, but the cutest faces. The way he overdoes his cutesy gestures causes Minseok’s laugh. There’s a lot of heart-throwing, bbuing-bbuing and a very uncalled for gwiyomi player that he sure wouldn’t want to show to anybody. He’ll die of shame if someone else sees him like this!

Thankfully, there’s not much customer in the shop and they’re at the far corner so no one should even bother to look at them.

Minseok can’t stop being amused by all of it. He knows he’s laughing harder than he should. But Sehun is doing his best! He reasons. He sips on his drink—which is the worst decision, by the way—and regrets it. He splutters when Sehun decided to wink at him by the end of the song.

“Oh my god hyung are you okay?” Sehun panics and gives his handkerchief (since he already used the tissues on his straw) to Minseok.

“Yeah, yeah...” Minseok nods, then busies himself with wiping off the stains on his jacket, absent-mindedly letting Sehun do the work on his face.

“I’m really sorry.”

Minseok gives Sehun a quizzical look. But then, it turns into a hearty laugh. “Be sorry because you are really funny! You know what? You’re literally deadly hilarious. You almost killed me!”

“Hyung, are you praising me or what?” Sehun folds his arms to his chest and feigns to look offended.

“I’m praising you, silly!” But next time, please lay off the winking. My poor heart can't handle it.

Sehun shrugs his shoulders, then removes the earphones. “I changed my mind. I won’t let you hear any of my playlist.”

Without thoroughly thinking about it, Minseok whines and pouts. He looks a little bit childish now but who cares? This is fun!

“No. I won’t fall for that.” Sehun shakes his head and closes his eyes. He hasn’t seen Minseok do that in years (in weeks actually). “Ugh, fine. How about we play something else, how about... this game?”

 “What’s that?”

“Just watch me.” Sehun taps his phone to open an application and starts swiping here and there to move the blocks. The game is quite addicting but he never gets that 2048 block. Hell, he can’t even make a 1024 block. As usual, the game quickly ends because the grid is full and he has no more moves. “Try it.” he passes his phone to Minseok.

“This is my first time to play so I hope you won’t boast.”

“Sure.”

After a minute, Minseok is still playing. And he even has two 512 blocks.

“Hyung, what sorcery is this? Are you sure, you’re a first timer?”

“Yes. I haven’t known this game until now.” He turns his head to glance at Sehun, which is another wrong move, because Sehun’s chin is on his shoulder. He realizes how close they are. What happens next is like a domino effect. He feels like the air is stuck in his throat, but he swallows it down and tries to breathe normally. Somehow, he manages to make a 1024 block, but he’s losing his focus. In no time, the game comes to an end when he can’t move a block anymore

“You beat my high score. Tch. It’s just a beginner’s luck.” There’s a tad bit of bitterness in Sehun’s voice as he says this.

“Y-yah! Admit it. I’m better than you!” Minseok shrugs Sehun off his shoulder and faces the younger.

“Hey! You said no boasting!” Sehun complains, complete with that childish indignant look.

“No. You’re the only one who’s not—” Minseok stops in mid-sentence because hey, why are they only a hair’s breadth away? Who’s moving? Who’s not? Is it Sehun, him or the both of them?

Someone gulps. He isn’t sure if it’s him or his student...But that’s not the main issue here! The problem here is that they’re just an inch closer and their—

In the most perfect timing, his phone rings in his pocket so he quickly looks away. He pulls out his phone and reads the message.

                From: Lulu my ❤

Minseok does a double take on the CNAM displayed on-screen. He’s positive that he already changed Luhan’s name in his contacts! Aish, Lulu stop playing with my phone! Now, he’s thinking of renaming his roommate’s CNAM to Annoying Lulu or Delulu. Either name suits the guy perfectly.

Minseokiee~ where are you? Feed me please. I can’t cook. I’m hurting everywhere orz. Hurry! I’m hungry（ ´_⊃｀）My stomach is growling!!! Save me! I’m going to die! X_X

After finishing his cold drink in one go, he smiles at Sehun. “Let’s go?”

Sehun replies by nodding and reciprocating Minseok’s smile.

6. Walk him home ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

They’re sauntering through the streets because Minseok insists that he doesn’t want see his roommate for the meantime. Although in truth, it’s just his way to take revenge on Luhan.  

“Hyung, you’re shivering!” Sehun gasps. He automatically takes off his blue varsity jacket and puts it on Minseok’s shoulder. “Wear this!”

“What about you?”

“I’m okay.” Sehun gives Minseok a thumbs-up. “I don’t feel cold at all.” He assures the other while zipping up the jacket.

“Oh, I can do this on my own, you know?” Minseok says, holding Sehun’s wrist and taking the task.

“Look, your hands are cold too.” Sehun impulsively grabs his teacher’s hand. He rubs their hands together, then blows warm air on them. He repeats this until he deems Minseok’s hands are warm enough. “How about I walk you home?”

“Uh...” Everything is happening at a pace that Minseok can’t catch up to. He can’t react properly. In fact, he doesn’t know if there’s a proper reaction. “Actually, you can’t walk me home...”

“Huh?”

“I-I m-mean—ugh...I take the bus to...”

“Then, I will ride the bus with you.” Sehun responds excitedly though he tries to hide it.

“T-there’s no need for that!” Minseok shakes his head and animatedly waves his hands.

“Alrighty then~ I’ll keep you company while you wait for the bus.”

Plan number six: cancelled. (ㄒoㄒ)

Minseok laughs at that. “You’re really pushing it.” He wants to say but he doesn’t. Whatever Sehun is playing, he’s in the mood to go with it.

They sit side by side under the bus shelter, occasionally chatting but mostly silent. Thankfully, it’s not the usual awkward silence. It’s more of a peaceful one.

When the bus arrived, Minseok reluctantly stands (although that’s a mystery for him too). He lets go of Sehun’s hand that he’s absently holding.

“Aw the bus is here...” Sehun tries not to sound disappointed but his furrowed eyebrows tell otherwise. He gets up and stands next to where Minseok is waiting. “Nal annaehaejwo Yeah geudaega salgo inneun gose nado hamkke deryeogajwo.” He sings very softly into Minseok’s ear.

Well, Minseok doesn’t know what to say. The bus door slides open so he just raises his hand, but he can’t bring himself to move it. He boards the bus without saying anything. He’s already sitting comfortably when he realized that he’s still wearing Sehun’s jacket. He looks through the window and sees his student staring at him. “Your jacket!” He mouths, then points to the borrowed clothing.

“Keep it, there’s still Monday hyung.” Sehun mimes as a reply.

Minseok nods at that. He settles in his seat, then smiles, feeling warmer inside. It might be because he’s wearing the jacket, but a part of him says that it’s not the case.

Result: success...almost? *insert hopeful face here*

---

Okay~ so here's the real deal. For those who got annoyed because there's no update last time even though there's a notification about it, let me explain. I was searching for someone who would beta this chapter for the meantime since starry-eyedDeer99 is busy.  So~ I want to thank hanchanie who volunteered to fill in the job and diligently (lol) dealt with my insecurities. 

starry-eyedDeer99: I feel like I'm bothering you or something orz.
hanchanie: Let me shower you with my love~ 

Listen to this and this or maybe this. These are the songs in Sehun's playlist. And yes, that's Sehun saying (hinting) "Please Love Me."

I just had a thought... What if Minseok is a bubble tea? And Sehun bought him? Then drank him...? O.O

A talk with Lulu (mini-series LOL. Don’t mind this. I’m crazy)

• Lulu: OMG!!! That Sehun is so lucky! He almost kissed my Minseokiee. Thankfully, I saved my baozi just in time!
• Me: WTH!!! You Freak! You destroyed their moment!!!
• Lulu: Lalalalalala /covers his ears/ I don't care~ I thought I would make an appearance here
• Me: Lalalalalala /covers my ears/ I just want to slaughter a deer because he's a threat to XiuHun!
• Lulu: Yeah I'm a threat! So back off Sehun!!!
• Me: I won't let you. /plans KaiLu's love life/ mwahahaha