“Sooo… Min… about yesterday…”  Chanyeol begins, entering the main area of Cassiopeia and watching Sehun and Minseok loiter around while there are no customers in the shop.  Yunho is with the three girls, helping them with the inventory and auditing, so they were left to man the counter and entrance.

“What about yesterday?” 

“Why were you on a date with Luhan?”  Sehun finishes and Minseok can feel the blush creeping up his cheeks.

“It wasn’t a date!”  Minseok retorts.

“Of course it wasn’t!  How rude of us to assume that it was, Sehun!”  Chanyeol mocks just as Yunho enters the premises.

“Oh, please.  That was totally a date.  Stop denying it Kim, I’m pretty sure you enjoyed it.”  Yunho says, rolling his eyes.  “Oh, by the way, you have mail.”  He says, handing Chanyeol a package.  Chanyeol takes it and eagerly opens it, revealing a green scarf and two flowers: a Sweet  William and a Primrose.

“Woah, it’s creepy flower stalker once again!  I can’t wait to tell Yifan!”  Chanyeol exclaims, his face lighting up.  He takes the two flowers and smiles at them as if they’re his creepy flower stalker.

“Sweet William and Primrose; ‘grant me one smile, perfection, gallantry’ and ‘I can’t live without you, early youth, young love’.”  Minseok says, informing the other two.

“Young love is such dumb love.”  Yunho says, shaking his head and looking at Minseok.

“What?!”  Minseok exclaims once he sees his boss eyeing him.

“Nothing.  Sehun, Jinri needs you to help him with the inventory out in the back.  Min, Yeol, stay here.”  Yunho orders before he heads back into the office.  Minseok eyes Chanyeol carefully once the others have left.

“Yeol, do you like Yifan?”  Minseok asks carefully.

“I’m sorry?”  Chanyeol asks, making sure he really heard what he thought he did.

“I asked if you like Yifan.”  Minseok replies and sees Chanyeol’s expression change from excited to confused.

“I don’t really know.”  Chanyeol replies, eyeing the flowers.  “There’s… there’s something I have to tell you, Min.  Something that I’ve been hiding for so long.”

“What is it?”  Minseok replies, preparing himself for what he’s about to hear.

“I’ve known Yifan even before you introduced him to us.”  Chanyeol replies, face red. 

“And?”  Minseok urges even if he already knows what’s going to happen next.

“And I’ve like him ever since I first saw him.”  Chanyeol admits and Minseok wants to laugh.  He just asks the taller boy how he ended up knowing Yifan even before that time they got introduced via Minseok.

“I always went to that branch of Starbucks and I would always see him there with Jongdae.  And I just… I thought he was pretty handsome, okay?  At first I thought it was just a phase, but apparently, it wasn’t.  It got harder and harder to not think about him until I just eventually gave up when you introduced him and Jongdae to us.  I thought that I should try, but then creepy flower stalker arrived, and I just don’t know what to do anymore.”  Chanyeol replies and this time, Minseok laughs.  This is seriously so screwed up that it’s so hilarious! 

“You should go and tell Yifan.  I think he’ll be really delighted to find out about that attraction of yours.  You might never know, you two might make it work.”  Minseok replies.  You have no idea how happy Yifan will be when he finds out that you like him too.

“But what about creepy flower stalker?!”  Chanyeol asks, showing Minseok the flowers.  Once again, Minseok laughs, because that is just so Chanyeol.  Worrying about creepy flower stalkers when he can finally tell the person he likes his true feelings is just so Chanyeol that it’s so funny.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll take care of creepy flower stalker for you.”  Minseok replies.

“Kim Minseok, do you know who creepy flower stalker is?!”  Chanyeol exclaims.

“Maybe, maybe not.  Just don’t worry about that and focus on Yifan, okay?  You’ll never know, he might just be the answer to all your questions.”  Minseok replies, laughing.

“Okay, but how do it do it?”  Chanyeol asks in return.

“Okay, talk right now!”  Luhan orders once Changmin enters the room.

“Luhan…”  Minho tries to calm his boss down but Luhan’s really, really pissed off.

“Minho!  No more excuses!  You too, Changmin!  Talk!”  Luhan orders.

“Luhan, would you please stop acting like a kid.”  Changmin says, rolling his eyes at his nephew.

“No, I will not stop acting like a kid until you guys tell me the truth!  How can you do that to me?  How can you not tell me important information about my best friend?  What if something happened and I all of a sudden needed the information?!”  Luhan exclaims.  He’s getting really, really impatient and Changmin’s and Minho’s expression aren’t helping.

“Minseok didn’t want us to tell you because he thought that you would hate him if you found out.”  Minho admits.

“He already told me about that.  Tell me what I still don’t know.  Please, I have to get him out of that apartment, I have to help him.  And in order for me to do that, I have to understand him; I have to know everything that you can tell me.”  Luhan says, his tone shifting from pissed to desperate.

“Okay, Luhan, but only because we want to get him out of there, too.”  Changmin says and Luhan calms down, now listening intently.  “Minseok ran away from home a year before he became your servant because he was kicked out when he told his parents that he wanted to study music and not something else that his parents wanted him to.  He received a scholarship since he’s such a talented musician and thought that his parents would feel proud but, apparently, it’s the exact opposite.”  Changmin begins and Luhan gasps, shocked at the truth behind Minseok’s past.  He totally wants to murder Minseok’s parents right now because how can they stop their extremely talented son from doing what he loves most?

“He took all his money with him and spent it on getting away as far as possible and somehow ended up here in Seoul.  By that time, he had no money, only a college scholarship, so he was forced to look for a job.  But no one wanted to hire a runaway graduating high school student so he was forced to live on the streets.”

Luhan thinks of what Minseok said to him last night and suddenly feels a twisting in his gut.  He now desperately wants to get Minseok out of that apartment and back in their penthouse where he’ll be safe and forever warm because that place is just cold.  It’s cold and dark and uncomfortable and it’s not Minseok.  That place is not Minseok at all.

“He eventually found a job at a small grocery store but that wasn’t enough to sustain him, he was still homeless.  I met him one evening, right after going to the grocery store to buy some food.  I don’t really know what I saw in him, but once I saw him walking away from the shop, I just followed him.  I thought that he was going to go home… until I realized that he had no home.  That’s when I knew I just had to help him, so the very next day I waited for him and offered him the job.  He took it almost immediately and thank god he did ‘cause if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have known what to do.  Maybe I would’ve kidnapped him and forced him to work for you or something, but I knew I just had to help him no matter what.”

“I would’ve thought that you’re a closet e if I didn’t know better.”  Luhan says.

“Yeah, I know.  He was then introduced to you guys, and then the rest is history.”  Changmin explains.

“But what about that apartment?  How did he get there?”  Luhan asks.

“That’s for me to explain.”  Minho says and Luhan diverts his attention to him.  “A friend of mine used to live there, so when he moved out he asked me if I knew anyone who needed a place to stay in.  During that time, Minseok still wasn’t living with you guys, he was staying at Changmin’s.  I never really saw the place, but when I asked Minseok if he wanted to take it, he immediately said yes.”

“I was hesitant to let him go at first, but he kept on begging me so I ended up saying yes.”  Changmin says.

“It was about after half a year when we finally managed to see the apartment space.  It was during that time when Minseok started to get sickly and everyone was getting worried so we said that we’d visit him.  I can say that I got really pissed at my friend when we reached the place.  It was nothing like home, I swear.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’ve been there.”  Luhan says, kind of wanting to scream at Minho for even telling Minseok about the apartment in the first place.

“We tried to get him to go back to my place but he wouldn’t, saying that he’ll just be a bother if he does.  He told us not to tell anyone the truth, in fear of rejection.  At first I didn’t really get it, but then I remembered that no one would hire him just because of his past, and then I realized that he thought he would lose everything he has if people found out that he used to be homeless.”  Changmin finishes.

“But they wouldn’t.  My parents loved him… I love him.”  Luhan says, causing Changmin and Minho to look at each other with their eyebrows raised.  “But then how did he end up staying with us?”

“I guess your parents realized that something was wrong, that’s when they told him to just move in.  They probably have no idea how relieved we were when they did that, knowing that Minseok will be taken care of properly from that moment on.  I guess he still kept the apartment even after he left, and no one knew about it.”  Minho replies.

The three of them sit in silence after the explanation, the only sound in the background being Hemmingway’s barks.  “I should get him out of there.”  Luhan finally says, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, but how?”  Changmin asks.  “I’ll help.”

“So, how’s it going with Angel at your end?”  Minseok asks Sehun when he sees the other one writing.

“Completely hopeless.  You’ve already added another line but I’m still down to none.  If the worst happens, it’ll end up being your song.”  Sehun says, sighing.  “I just have all these crazy ideas but I can’t write then down.”

“Well, ‘Baby’ was good.”  Minseok says, trying his best to life his friend’s spirit.

“Yeah, but now I don’t have any inspiration.”  Sehun says, pouting at Minseok.

“What about Zitao?  Isn’t he enough of an inspiration?”  Minseok asks.

“He is, but I don’t find it easy to write something about him.  I mean, even if I did, I wouldn’t let others hear it… or even him, I wouldn’t have let him hear it because it’s… well, I can’t really explain it.”   Sehun replies, trying his best to form words.  Minseok chuckles.

“If you like him so much, then why did you hate him?”  Minseok asks, now bewildered when he came to that realization.

“I didn’t, but I thought he did hate me.  That’s why I pretended to hate him too so that I won’t feel the hurt anymore.  But then again, as everyone says, there’s a thin line between hate and love.”

“But what is it with Zitao?  Is it hate, or is it love?”

“Love.  I’m pretty sure it’s that.”

“You know, I’m like that when it comes to Luhan,” Minseok begins, causing Sehun to look at him curiously.  “I always find it hard to write songs about him, or even tell him something.  When it comes to him, it’s like I’m always at a loss for words.” 

“Then how do you talk to him at all?  I always have a hard time talking to Zitao because I’m scared that I’ll screw up.”

“He was my boss so not talking to him is not an option.  Let’s just say that I just had to take it, and eventually it became easier.  But it’s still hard to talk about my feelings for him.”

“Was ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ really about Luhan?”

Minseok just chuckles in reply.  “Don’t worry, Sehun, I’m pretty sure you’ll find the right words for Zitao.  Just don’t be afraid to talk to him, okay?”  Minseok says, ruffling Sehun’s hair.

“Yeah, sure.  Thanks, Min.  Oh, can you help me with this?  I can’t find the right note for this one.”  Sehun says, showing Minseok the page.

“Yeah, sure.  What’s the title?”  Minseok asks, once he doesn’t see any title on the top of the page.

“Dude, you’ve been humming and whistling that tune for a day now.  Is that from a song or something?”  Jongdae asks Yifan as they hang around while they watch the customers eat their orders.

“Well, not really.  It’s not from any specific song or whatever, I just woke up this morning and poof!  This tune’s stuck in my head.”  Yifan replies, knocking on his temple for emphasis.

“So, how’s it going with Chanyeol?”  Jongdae asks.

“Okay, I guess.  It’s not like there’s something to begin with.  On the contrary, Kim Jongdae, how’s it going with Kim Joonmyeon?”  Yifan asks, a smirk on his face.

“Shut up.  And wipe that smirk off your face, Krease.”  Jongdae replies, and Yifan sticks his tongue out at the nickname.  Suddenly, Yifan’s phone rings, and he goes to answer it once he sees that the caller is Minseok.

“Yifan, you have to stop giving flowers to Chanyeol.”

“What?!”  Yifan exclaims.  He didn’t just hear that, did he?

“I’m telling you Yifan, you have to stop.”

“Why?  Does he find it creepy?”

“Well, maybe, I guess.  I mean, we always did call it the work of the creepy flower stalker.  So yeah, maybe.  But that’s not the reason!”

“Then why?”

“Because if you don’t, then you might lose all your chances with him.  I’m telling you Yifan, you have to stop.  Cancel all your orders whatsoever.”

“Okay, okay.  I’ll do it!  Just stop freaking out, okay?”

“I’m not freaking out!  Okay, so good luck then!”

“Sometimes, I just do not understand our Minseok.”  Yifan tells Jongdae once the call is finished.  Jongdae just nods at him and opens his mouth as if he’s about to say something, when he gasps and looks behind Yifan.  Yifan then turns and faces the customer waiting in line, only to see that’s its Luhan, Minseok’s boss.  And oh, he’s glaring at Yifan.

“Hello, Luhan-ssi!  What can we get you today?”  Jongdae asks, nervous.

“Two lattes, please.”  Luhan says, not taking his eyes off Yifan.  Jongdae nods and goes to work, leaving Yifan alone with Luhan.  Yifan kind of wants to kill Jongdae right now using the damn coffee maker.

“Uhm… hello, Luhan-ssi.”  Yifan says, trying to smile.  He’s not really sure why Luhan’s glaring at him right now, but it sure as hell freaks him out.  Luhan doesn’t reply, just keeps on glaring at Yifan like a freaking psychopath.  Luhan doesn’t even bother to sit since there’s no one behind him at all; he’s just standing and glaring.

Jongdae arrives a couple of minutes later with Luhan’s order and hands it to him, as Luhan gives Yifan his payment.  Yifan gives him his change, while trying to endure a little more of the Luhan Glare©.  Just a little more, Wu Yifan, you can do this.  Finally, Luhan turns to leave, but not before giving Yifan one last Glare©.  Yifan gives a sigh of relief once Luhan’s out of the shop, and turns to Jongdae.

“Dude, what the hell was that for?!”  Yifan exclaims, thinking of phoning Minseok and asking him to put a restraining order on his former boss.

“Our Minseok.”  Was Jongdae’s only reply and Yifan is confused as .

“What?!”  Yifan asks, now pissed.

“He heard it when you said ‘our Minseok’.  Joonmyeon did say that Luhan is really possessive of Minseok.”  Jongdae says but Yifan is still confused.  Then, all of a sudden, he hears a click and he gets it.

“Ohmygod.  Does Minseok know?”  Yifan asks, now thinking of phoning Minseok and telling him to just go for it!

“Nope because apparently, Luhan doesn’t even realize it.”  Jongdae replies and Yifan kind of wants to throw Minseok and Luhan out the window right now.

“That is just plain stupid.  So Minseok’s pining over Luhan because he thinks that Luhan doesn’t love him and Luhan’s with Yixing because he can’t understand his own feelings.  Right.”  Yifan says, frustrated.

“Dude, if that’s how you feel, then think about how Joonmyeon does.  He had to put up with Luhan and Minseok’s stupidity for so long that it’s driving him insane!”  Jongdae replies.

“Oh, so that’s the reason why you two were talking back in XOXO?”

“Yeah, actually, he enlisted me to help him fix whatever the hell is wrong with the two’s relationship with each other.  I agreed, but the thing is, I dunno where we should start.”

“How about by dating?  You and Joonmyeon should definitely hook up.” 

“One more word, Wu Yifan, and you’re dead.  Chopped to pieces.  Then I’ll send your ugly remains to Chanyeol.” Jongdae threatens, pointing a spoon at Yifan.

The door opens with a small sound and Chanyeol, who’s currently stationed at the counter, looks up to see Luhan.

“Hey, Chanyeol.  Is Minseok here?”  Luhan asks, taking off his shades.

“Yeah, he’s in the back.  Uhm… just go straight through here and you’ll see a wooden door.  Just don’t forget to knock, sometimes things can get pretty wild in there.”  Chanyeol says, gesturing to his right.

Luhan thanks him with a nod, and then proceeds to go to the said door.  He reaches it within a few minutes, and knocks gently.  He hears some soft rustling from the other side and a familiar voice saying, “Wait a minute!” before the door opens, revealing Minseok.

“Oh, hey, Han.  What’s up?!”  Minseok asks, running a hand through his hair.

“I said I’d check up on you, right?  So here I am, oh, and I brought your clothes from yesterday.  I forgot to give them back.”  Luhan says, handing Minseok a paper bag.

“Oh, thanks.  Well, I’m fine as you can see.”  Minseok says, giving Luhan a light smile.  The younger boy then proceeds to check out the contents of the paper bag, giving Luhan a chance to see if he’s lying.  He’s looking good, actually, so much better than Luhan expected and he’s relieved. 

Before he knows what he’s doing, he’s closing the door with a click, causing Minseok to look up at him.

“Uhm… did you—“ Minseok starts but Luhan cuts him off by pushing him against the wall and kissing him roughly.  Minseok can’t really say that he didn’t want this to happen, he did actually, but he didn’t expect that this would happen.  Making out in the staff room slash store room is just one of his Luhan-induced fantasies, and it becoming reality is good but… Yixing.  Oh, and he’s kissing back when he’s not supposed to.

He tries to push the other boy away but Luhan’s tongue exploring his mouth is just too much.  He does manage to break away from the kiss though, but not from Luhan’s grip.  The older boy now starts attacking his neck, and Minseok knows that telltale marks of this fantasy turned reality would haunt him for days, if he won’t be able to stop Luhan.

“Luhan…” Minseok begins but Luhan’s undoing his fly and it’s just—Minseok does not understand what’s happening anymore.

“Luhan.  Luhan, STOP!”  Minseok finally shouts, pushing the older boy away.  Luhan looks at him through his half-lidded eyes, his problem evident from the bulge in his pants.  Minseok tries to regain control of his breathing and trying to zip up his pants at the same time.

“What the hell, Minseok?”  Luhan asks, stepping forward once again.

“You don’t mean this.  This is nothing if you don’t mean it.”  Minseok replies, looking at his feet.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything, it’s not important.  Does it have to mean something?”  Luhan says, taking hold of Minseok’s arm.  Minseok shakes the other’s hand off, and Luhan just looks at him in surprise.

“Of course it has to mean something!  I can’t just be some random , Luhan!  I’m not like that!”  Minseok replies.

“You’re such a baby, Minseok.  You’re not even strong enough to go through this.”  Luhan says, emphasizing on the last word.

“You know what?!  you!  Get out, Luhan!  I can’t deal with you right now!”  Minseok screams, causing Luhan to jump.

“You’ll regret this later, Kim.”  Luhan says before he gets out of the store room and out of the shop and in to Yixing’s waiting car.

Minseok slumps down against the wall, crying.  He doesn’t know what happened, but he sure as hell doesn’t want that if Luhan won’t mean it.  Of course, there’s no chance that Luhan would mean it at all, but still.  He doesn’t know how long he stayed there, crying, when Chanyeol bursts into the room.

“Min!  Are you—“ Chanyeol asks but is cut off by the sight before him.  He doesn’t even think twice, just embraces the shaking and crying Minseok while rubbing soothing circles on his back.

“He’s killing me, Yeol.  He’s killing me with his words.”  Minseok sobs and Chanyeol just wants to kill Luhan right now.  After a couple of seconds they both hear a new set of footsteps, and then Sehun appears at the doorway.

“What the hell?”  Sehun asks, looking at Chanyeol.

“Luhan.”  Chanyeol replies, looking at Sehun helplessly.  They both know that Minseok loves Luhan very much, and would practically do anything for his former boss, but this is just too much and Chanyeol doesn’t know what to do anymore.

Sehun just stands there, shocked.  He remembers what Zitao said to them yesterday.  He wants to cry right now because Minseok doesn’t deserve this; all his life he’s been kind and loving to Luhan and this is what he gets?  Sehun’s hands clench and unclench, but he can’t deal with that right now.  Right now Minseok needs him, and he’s there to support him no matter what.

Sehun hugs Minseok and Chanyeol and the three of them just stay like that; Chanyeol and Sehun protecting Minseok from the outside world and Minseok crying.  Crying for the one person he loves so much but knows he’ll never get.

A/N: I haven't updated in such a long time!  I'm having a Criminal Minds marathon right now (right from season 1 yes), because I miss Reid so much, while doing my research so I've been quite busy.  I've managed to write up to the last chapter, and all I need to do is to proof read everything to make sure that I've got everything right.