Luhan spends the rest of the day in his room catching up on missed school work until his eyes burn. Eventually Lay enters, shaking him out of his homework-induced trance “Oh, hi.”

“We were going to head over to Jongin’s place for dinner, do you want to come?”

“What? I mean, sure…”

“You’re been studying all day. Come on.”

“What time is it?” Luhan rubs his eyes and gets up, pushing closed the lid of the group laptop.

“Uh...five thirty-ish?”

“Dinner time. We’re going to have food there?” Luhan grabs his jacket and Yixing shrugs “I expect so. He just said for us to come on over, no details.”

“Sure. When are we leaving?”

“Now.” Yixing exits before Luhan can reply, leaving him with no choice but to follow along to the main room where Kris and Tao are waiting, both already in shoes and jackets, to head out. Luhan puts on his jacket and sneakers, joins them at the door, and then the four head out into the growing darkness on their way to Jongin’s house on the far side of town.

It’s raining (again) when they arrive and as soon as Jongin opens the door everyone hurries inside. The place is warm and brightly lit, kind of like its owner’s sunny demeanor, Luhan thinks. It smells faintly of vanilla-y candles, lemon surface cleaner, and cigarettes. As expected, Kyungsoo is there, in the corner, just staring at everyone as they arrive. “So, are we going to eat or what?” Kris asks the most important question as soon as Jongin has closed the door and everyone has gotten comfortable.

“I was thinking so. Anyone have money for pizza? Let’s pass around a hat.”

“There are only six of us, we don’t need a hat…”

“Oh, don’t be a party pooper, Zitao. I have a hat that we can use. Okay, anyone have money to donate to charity? All won donated go to poor college boys in need.”

Everyone laughs a little and the hat is passed around. All in all, they come up with enough to buy one pizza with toppings. Kris orders it on the phone because he claims that he’s ‘the best at doing these sorts of things’, and then the six of them hang around and make idle talk while waiting for the food to arrive. All anyone who came with Luhan wants to talk about is his night with Minseok, and he has to keep the stories from getting too out of hand.

“So guess what.”

“What?” Kyungsoo really doesn’t look very interested.

“Luhannie slept over at his boy’s house last night.”

“He’s not my ‘boy’!” Luhan says indignantly, covering his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing “We’re not even together!”

“Don’t lie to us,” Tao giggles “No one expected you to be so daring as to sleep over…”

“It was because Kris’ bike got stolen! Ugh…guys…I swear…” Everyone is laughing at Luhan’s discomfort and it’s clear that anything that he says will be for naught so he just doesn’t try and just sits and waits for the laughing to pass. Somehow a pillow fight starts up, and before he knows it he has a face full of fluffy down pillow, Yixing is lying on the floor yelling “I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!” and the pizza delivery man is ringing the doorbell.

Kyungsoo detangles himself from the mass of flying cushions and limbs and gets the food, sets it on the low table, and then waits for someone to notice that the pizza has officially arrived. Yixing is first to notice, then Luhan and Kris. Jongin and Tao follow. Everyone gathers around the warm, flat cardboard box and takes their pieces, squabbling like a group of kids over who gets what section. Once he’s scored a piece, Luhan tries not to get any of the sauce or grease on his shirt and sits down with it in the corner. Tao is holding his slice like a trophy and wading through the sea of pillows to the couch and Kris follows suit. Yixing settles down at the table along with Kyungsoo and Jongin.

For a few minutes everyone is absorbed in the eating of their dinner, and the house is nearly silent. Just as the lack of conversation between the six of them begins to become awkward, Jongin breaks the silence “Okay…guys…” his eyes are flitting back and forth between Kyungsoo and the rest of the group, and there is a feeling of  tension in the room, as if he is about to drop a large information-bomb.

“Yeah, what?” Kris is getting agitated.

“Be patient, will you…” Kyungsoo is in on this as well, it seems “It’s kind of-“

“Well,” Jongin takes a deep breath and seems to come to a decision about what he was about to say “I decided to invite everyone here for dinner to make an announcement…it’s not that big, but…”

“Oh, Jongin, why didn’t you tell us that you were pregnant?” This comment results in a rubber band being shot in Tao’s direction. Jongin continues “BUT, I thought I, well, we might as well have a little celebration because of it.”

“Just tell them, we’re going to begin killing people here if we don’t tell.” Kyungsoo laughs and Kris sighs “I’m already dead.”

“Yeah. Okay. Sorry, this is just a little bit scary. Well, guys, Kyungsoo and I made it official.” Jongin’s cheeks are flushed, which is rare to see on him.

Everyone applauds and Lay waxes poetic “I thought that happened like, ten years ago.”

Kyungsoo is rocking back and forth slightly and no one can tell if he is happy, amused, or pissed off. He snorts “No. You were wrong.”

“Okay. It was all platonic making-out before now?”

“Hey, hey…”

Luhan laughs along with the rest and Jongin puts his arms around Kyungsoo’s neck and they rock back and forth together. Life is pretty good.

***

The next day goes by in what seems like the blink of an eye and before he knows it Luhan finds himself clutching his wallet and preparing to enter the café. The sun is going down and it casts a golden glow on the whole scene, the shadows stretching long and thin in the evening light. Minseok is washing his hands when he comes in and doesn’t notice until Luhan puts a hand lightly on his shoulder.

Ready to go? Luhan is smiling, barely containing his excitement for the date.  

Minseok nods, a happy gleam in his eyes, and trades his barista’s apron for the neat-but-casual varsity jacket that hangs behind the counter. He grabs his bag then joins Luhan at the door, and after locking the café up behind them he slips his hand into Luhan’s. Their fingers interlock and Minseok gestures as if to say Well, let’s go!

The two walk hand in hand, looking for a place to eat. It’s not a very formal occasion, they didn’t make any plans before hand and haven’t had a discussion about what they want to eat, but they soon come upon a small, family run business that seems to interest both of them. Minseok gestures in its general direction, his shoulders shrugging How about that one? And Luhan nods. Looks good.

A menu hangs on the door outside and they both examine it. It’s inexpensive and there is a wide variety of choices, the basic Bibimbap bowls, Bulgogi Beef, as well as a number of unique chef-specialties. They decide to give the place a try and enter, the bell on the door dinging out their arrival. A small elderly woman wearing an apron ushers them to a table and brings them menus, tottering on tiny stockinged legs. They thank her and look over the menus, holding a silent conversation on the paper napkins provided.

How about this one? Luhan is talking about the Assorted Bibimbap Bowl, which would probably be enough for the two of them to share. Minseok looks it over and then nods slightly. Yes, that’s good. Have you eaten here before?

No. But it smells good in here, yeah?

Yeah, you’re right. And it really does. The fumes wafting from the kitchen smell of cooking meats and fresh vegetables, and all the people at the tables around them are engrossed in their food. This restaurant was obviously a good choice.

The elderly hostess returns with glasses of water and a notepad to take their orders.

Luhan does the talking “We’d like t