“Soooo, Minseok, about that tall friend of yours…”  Yifan asks Minseok when he stops by Starbucks one afternoon before going to work.

“Chanyeol?”  Minseok asks, unsure.

“Yeah.”  Yifan replies, a blush on his face.

“What about him?”

“Uhm… you know… do you think… ?”

“Yifan, do you like Chanyeol?”  Minseok asks disbelievingly.

“Well, for some time now.  I mean, even before I found out that you guys know each other.”

“Seriously?  How?”  Minseok asks as he motions for Yifan to sit down opposite him.  There are no other people around, and Jongdae is fooling around with his guitar once again, so it’s completely okay for the two of them to chat.

“Well, he goes here a lot, and I managed to talk to him some time ago.  I don’t think he remembers me, though.  But I really really want to get to know him.”  Yifan replies, pouting.

“When was some time ago?”

“About a year ago?”

“That long!  Does Jongdae know about this?”

“Yeah, actually the reason why we talked to you is because of that.  Jongdae knows you guys are tight because he always sees the three of you together at school, and when I told him about my crush on Chanyeol, he told me about you.  So when you walked through those doors that day, I finally mustered up the courage to make friends with you.”

“Wow… that’s…. wow.”

“Do you think I’m bad?  Do you think I’m creepy?  Do you think Chanyeol won’t like me?”

“No, I don’t think it’s bad.  Yes, it’s kind of creepy; and no, I’m pretty sure Chanyeol would love to get to know you more.”

“But how?!  I’m not really good at this.”

“Don’t worry, we’re here to help you.  Later tonight, Sehun and I will go here, okay?  Let’s talk about our game plan.”

“Thanks, Min!”  Yifan exclaims and hugs Minseok.  “You don’t know how much this means to me!”

“Well if it isn’t Oh and Park.”  Chanyeol and Sehun hear someone say from the door, and they both turn around to see Hwang Zitao standing there.

“Hey, Hwang.  Need anything?”  Sehun asks sarcastically.

“Yeah, actually, I need new strings for my guitar.  Think you can get that for me, dickhead?”

“They’re by the guitars, go find them yourself.”  Chanyeol says, giving Zitao a glare.

Sehun makes a face once Zitao is out of earshot.

“I hate him.”  Sehun announces, voice merely a whisper.

“Don’t we all?”  Chanyeol replies, rolling his eyes.  Just then, the door once again opens, Minseok entering the shop.

“Hey, guys, sorry I’m late.  Is someone here already?” 

“Yeah, Hwang’s by the guitars.”  Sehun replies, rolling his eyes.

“Oh .  I’m going to the back.”  Minseok announces, fearing another encounter with one of Luhan’s friends.

“Can I go with him?”  Sehun asks Chanyeol.

“Yeah, sure.  I can handle him.”  Chanyeol replies, shoving them towards the stock room.  Minseok pulls Sehun aside once they’re alone, and tells him about the plan.

“So Yifan really does like Yeol!”  Sehun exclaims.

“Sssh!  And yeah, he really does.  You’ll hear the rest of the story later.  So, you in?”  Minseok asks.

“Definitely.  Oh, and I like those lines for Angel, you know.  I can’t wait to contribute!”

“I miss Bambi.”  Luhan says as Yixing enters their room, a stack of books in hand.

“Sorry, but I don’t really like dogs.”  Yixing replies as he sits beside Luhan at their bed.  “Watcha doin’?”

“Assignment for algebra class.”  Luhan says, knitting his brows together.  “You think you can help me?”

“Nah, sorry.  I’m not really that good, I mean, I’m an artist, you know?”  Yixing replies, showing Luhan a book about Renaissance art.

Luhan just sighs, if Minseok were here, he would’ve probably be done with his homework an hour ago.  Yeah, Minseok’s awesome like that; Minseok’s smart and funny and charming and always there for him.  Yes, Luhan misses Minseok a lot, and ever since that incident, Luhan swore that he’ll never ever touch a single drop of alcohol again; he can’t risk losing something or someone that matters to him again.

He then thinks of Minseok’s whereabouts.  How is he?  Has he been eating properly?  Has he been sleeping properly?  Does he have a safe place to stay?  Luhan knows that Minseok can take care of himself, but he’s also very stubborn and would sometimes forget about his own wellbeing when he’s absorbed in something.  He remembers that time when Minseok collapsed due to exhaustion a month after Luhan’s parents died.  Luhan had been too caught up in his own wallowing, leaving Minseok to do everything for him and with very little time to eat and rest.  It only when everything’s settled down, and Luhan was okay again, that his body gave up, the effects of the adrenaline rush wearing off.

Luhan remembers that moment very clearly.  They had been preparing for a trip to his grandparents’ place and he failed to notice that Minseok had been sick the past few days.  An hour before they were supposed to leave for the airport, Minseok collapsed in their living room.  Luhan felt like he couldn’t breathe when he saw Minseok fall to the floor, unconscious.  He felt like he couldn’t think properly when he was trying to shake him awake but couldn’t.  He felt like he couldn’t focus on anything but Minseok’s pale face when they were inside their SUV, Minho speeding them to the hospital, Luhan clinging onto Minseok’s body for dear life.  He felt like his heart would stop beating when he saw Minseok on that hospital bed, unconscious and very thin, looking very fragile.  He felt like he wanted to cry when he realized that his own selfishness had caused it, he had caused his best friend to end up like that.  Minseok ended up staying at the hospital for five days, waking up at the second day of his stay.  Luhan had attended to Minseok the whole time, rarely leaving his side and even force-feeding him when needed, and had promised that he’d take care of the younger boy no matter what.

But look what happened?  He got drunk and said some stupid stuff to him, and now he’s gone.  Luhan knows that he should just forget, but what if something bad happens?  What if something happens to Minseok and no one’s there to help him?  No, Luhan can’t just forget Minseok, not after everything the younger boy had done for him.  Even sacrificing his own comfortable life for his happiness, Luhan knows that he can never ever do that for someone.  No, Luhan won’t give up; he’ll get Minseok back, no matter what.

“You okay?”  Yixing asks, leaning onto Luhan as he looks at some paintings from the book.

“So that’s your freakin’ game plan?!”  Jongdae asks, giving Minseok and Sehun their orders.  Yifan is sitting opposite Minseok, and Jongdae takes the seat beside him.  It’s almost closing time, so there’s no more people around, the perfect time to talk about their How-To-Woo-Park Chanyeol strategy.

“Well, got any ideas, Kim Jongdae?”  Sehun asks.

“Uhm… well, none.”  Jongdae replies.  “But seriously, sending flowers anonymously?!  How cliché is that?!”

“For your information, Chanyeol loves flowers, and he also likes cliché ways of courtship.  He thinks they’re very sweet.”  Minseok replies, matter-of-factly.

“Fine, fine, but what flowers do we give him?”  Yifan asks.

“Now that, my dear friend, is a job for Minnie here.”  Sehun says and the two baristas turn their attention to Minseok.

“I have this book at home that discusses flowers and their meanings.  Chanyeol gave it to me for my birthday, and I used it for a report once.  It’s actually really cool; I can lend it to you.  I swear you’ll enjoy reading it and choosing the right combinations for Chanyeol.”  Minseok replies, a grin on his face.

“Okay then, so it’s set!”  Yifan says optimistically.

“Yeah, but leaving that topic, how have you been, Minseok?  Have you been taking care of yourself properly?”  Jongdae asks.

“Yeah, don’t worry.”  Minseok replies, internally cringing as he thinks about the small amount of time of rest he gets between school, and work, and studying at home; and he’s still saving up for the piano and for rent so he hasn’t been eating properly lately.

“Are you sure?  ‘Cause you look kind of pale and thin and tired.”  Sehun replies, concern laced in his voice.

“Yeah, don’t worry, it’s just cold.”  Minseok replies.

“Speaking of which, where the hell is your winter coat, Kim?”  Jongdae asks.

“Forgot it at home, and it’s still in the dryer.”  Minseok replies, a lie once again.

“Dude, that is so stupid.”  Yifan replies, laughing at Minseok.

Minseok’s currently at the library, reading some random novel, H.O.T. blasting through his ears, when he feels someone take the space beside him on the couch.  He turns to face the stranger only to see Luhan, looking at him expectantly.  Minseok immediately removes his headphones and greets the other boy.

“Hey.”  Minseok softly says.

“Hey.  Uhm, how have you been doing?”  Luhan asks, and Minseok sees an algebra book beside the other boy and thinks, Oh, he just needs my help in math, that’s all… nothing exceptional.  What the hell were you even expecting, Kim?!

“Fine, just fine.  Is there something I can help you with?”

“Uhm… do you think you can help me with this?”  Luhan says, gesturing towards his algebra book.  “I’ve been working on the problem the whole night and I couldn’t answer it.”

“Yeah, sure.  Gimme.”  Minseok replies and Luhan hands him the book, their fingers slightly brushing against each other.  Minseok reads the problem and gets to work while Luhan watches him intently, taking in every second of this moment and committing it to memory.  The silence is killing Luhan, and he tries desperately to think of the right words to break it, and ends up failing miserably.

“I need you.”  Luhan suddenly says, causing Minseok to stop and look at him.

“I’m sorry?”  Minseok replies, hoping that he just heard what he thought he did.

“I said I need you, Min.  Please come back.”  Luhan says, voice pleading.

“Luhan, is Yixing not enough for you?”  Minseok asks, going back to the problem.

“But it’s different when you’re there!  It’s… warmer.”  Luhan replies, willing Minseok to look back at him so that he can see the other’s brown eyes.

“I can’t be there for you forever, Luhan.  The time will come when you won’t need me anymore; no wait, that time has already come.  Yixing is already there for you, what more do you need?”  Minseok replies, finishing the problem and handing the book back to Luhan.

“I don’t intend to back down, Min.  I really need you.”  Luhan replies, holding on to the book that currently serves as his link to Minseok.

“You don’t mean it.”  Minseok says, also holding on to the book, never wanting to let go.

“Yes, I do.  I really do.”  Luhan replies.  Minseok lets go of the book and takes his stuff, including the random novel, and stands up.

“Hey, Oh.”  Sehun hears someone greet him as he makes his way to his next class.

“What do you want, Hwang?”  Sehun asks, clearly pissed off.

“Not in a good mood, are we?”  Zitao asks, teasing the other boy.

“Seriously, what do you want?”  Sehun replies, who stopped to walk just to look at Zitao straight in the eye.

“I was just thinking that maybe I can make your life miserable as revenge for what Minseok did to Luhan.  He’ll be really hurt to see you hurt, wouldn’t he?”  Zitao asks, a smug grin on his face.

“Yeah, he’ll be really hurt, but that still doesn’t change anything.  You still won’t understand anything because your teeny weeny brain can’t process anything else aside from designer clothes and bags!”

“What did you say, you little!”

“Get out, Hwang.  Class is almost starting.”  Someone says from behind Zitao and he turns around to see Chanyeol standing there.  Zitao just growls at Chanyeol before he gives Sehun one last look and then walks away.

“What did he say to you?”  Chanyeol asks Sehun once they’re in the comfort of their own classroom, going towards Minseok.

“Okay, so first of all, where do we go for flowers?”  Yifan asks his companions once they’re out of Starbucks.

“No, Yifan, first of all, do you already know what to give Yeol?”  Jongdae asks, rolling his eyes.

“Uhm… well, I was thinking of white and pink camellias.”  Yifan replies thoughtfully.

“’You’re adorable’ and ‘longing for you’.  Nice picks, Yifan.”  Minseok replies.

“But yeah, where do we go?”  Jongdae asks.

“There’s this flower shop near the music store, and we’re really tight with the employees there.”  Sehun replies.  They continue to walk towards their destination, passing Cassiopeia along the way.

“Oooh… this is nice.  I want to check this out some day.”  Yifan tells Jongdae, the other nodding in return.

“Do you have some bass strings in there?  I need to change mine.”  Jongdae asks the two.

“You play the bass?”  Minseok asks Jongdae, the other once again giving an affirmative nod.  “You are so awesome, Kim Jongdae.”  Minseok replies as they stop right in front of XOXO.

XOXO, the flower shop near Cassiopeia, is run by the family of Kim Joonmyeon.  They have two employees, Kim Jongin and Lee Taemin, who are close friends with Minseok, Chanyeol, and Sehun.  Jongin’s a dance major graduate and Taemin’s a film graduate, and both are using their jobs at XOXO as a sideline to their real jobs; Jongin being an elementary dance teacher and Taemin being an animations director for a company.  They enter the shop and the aromas of different flowers in bloom greet them, along with the two employees.

“Hey, guys!”  Taemin greets once he sees them enter.  “And who do we have here?”

“Taemin, meet Kim Jongdae and Wu Yifan.  We’re here to help Yifan win someone’s heart.”  Sehun says, winking at Taemin.

“Okay, but where’s Yeol?”  Jongin asks, holding some magnolias.

“Well, you see… it’s actually about Yeol.”  Minseok replies.

“Oh!  You like Yeol?  Good choice man, good choice!  So, what’s the game plan?”  Taemin asks.

“Sending him flowers anonymously, that’s why we’re here.”  Sehun replies.

“Oooh… don’t worry, we’ll help you out.”  Jongin replies.

“Cliché, just how Chanyeol likes it.”  Taemin replies, commenting on the way of courtship.  “Have you already thought of the flowers that you’re going to send him?”

“I was thinking of some pink and white camellias.”

“I take it that Minseok lent you his book.  Nice choice, by the way.  How do you like it to be sent?”  Jongin replies as Taemin busies himself by picking out the requested flowers.

“Anonymously?”  Yifan replies, unsure.

“He meant if you want it to be a bouquet or as singles.”  Minseok replies, trying to hide his smile.

“Oh!  Uhm… how about singles?  I think giving him a bouquet the first time would be too bold.”  Yifan says.

“Perfect.  Very perfect.”  Jongin replies as Taemin appears, holding the said pink and white camellias.

A/N: That Starbucks branch seems so empty all the time lol (or Minseok just has great timing)

And so the Krisyeol begins /evil laugh