Minho’s eyes followed the familiar blonde-headed figure as he made his way towards a section of the bookstore he hadn’t yet been to over the past two weeks—romance. He scanned over the variety of titles, seemingly finding a hard time at choosing a book.

“He’s here again?” Kibum asked, interrupting Minho’s line of thoughts.

“Yeah,” Minho replied, briefly glancing at his co-worker-slash-friend before returning his gaze to the frequent customer.

“Don’t you think he’s a bit weird?” the shorter of the two remarked, struggling to carry a box of new books and looked at Minho for help. “He comes in, stays for a couple of hours, reads and then he leaves. He never buys anything. Is that even allowed?”

Minho tore his eyes away from the stranger and easily lifted the box from Kibum’s arms, storing it away to be shelved later. “Well, in business, the customer is never wrong.”

Kibum rolled his eyes and dusted away at his dark-blue apron. “That’s a load of bull. The shop isn’t going to stay afloat if every other customer waltz in and gets a free read. This is a bookstore. Not a library.”

“What do you suggest we do then?”

“I suggest you go over there and make him buy something,” Kibum said, and then added, smirking, “And maybe you can ask him out on a date. I’m tired of seeing you making googly eyes at him.”

Minho stared at Kibum with wide eyes and spluttered over his words. “I d-do not make “googly eyes” at him!” he denied, though the blood rushing to his cheeks indicated otherwise.

“Sure you don’t,” Kibum said sarcastically and pushed his friend out from behind the counter. “Now, go. I’ve got other customers to tend to,” he smiled sweetly, before helping a shopper check out her items.

Minho sent a glare over his shoulder but relented with a sigh. He took a deep breath and approached the customer slowly, noticing how his palms were beginning to sweat. Once at a safe distance, Minho took note of how the blonde man’s nose crinkled in confusion as he continued to look for a book. Cute. He pulled one out just as Minho spoke up:

“If you’re looking for a good romance novel, I suggest you go for Nicholas Sparks.”

Surprised, the blonde yelped and the book in his hands flew out of his grasp, successfully landing on Minho’s head with a thud. (In the distance, Minho could vaguely make out Kibum’s obnoxious laughter.)

“Oh my goodness,” he gasped, picking up the fallen book and clutched it to his chest. “I am so sorry.”

Minho rubbed at his sore head (of all books it just had to be a hard cover) and flashed the other man a small smile. “No worries. I…I, uh, shouldn’t have snuck up on you like that.”

“Still,” the customer insisted, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. “I’m sorry, that must have hurt a lot. I’m not always this clumsy. Well, I actually am but you know, not clumsy enough to go and hurt other people. How can I help you? Oh wait, it’s supposed to be the other way around since you work here. I think. I mean, I’m just assuming from the uniform you’re wearing—I’m sorry I’m blabbering, aren’t I? Sorry.”

Minho chuckled softly. “It really is okay,” he said. “I noticed that you were standing here for quite a while. Can’t find the right book?”

The smaller man sighed and slipped the book in his clutches back in its rightful place. “You could say that. I don’t usually read romance. I’m more into—”

“Sci-fi, action, fantasy,” Minho finished off for him.

“How did you know?” he raised his eyebrows, tone half surprised and half pleased.

“Well, you have been coming here for the past couple of weeks to read,” Minho explained. “Not that I was watching you or anything. I just, uhm, happened to notice you because…your blonde hair is very striking,” he finished off quickly and then groaned as he realised what an idiotic thing to say.

To his surprise, the man laughed which, only really served to embarrass him more but that was all forgotten when he beamed up at Minho. “I’m Lee Jinki,” he introduced himself, extending a hand out towards Minho. “And you are?”

Minho shook the offered hand, heart fluttering in his chest as he choked out, “C-Choi Minho.”

“Well, Minho-ssi, do you mind helping me out?”

“O-Of course, that’s what I’m here for after all.”

They moved over to a selection of books, mostly Nicholas Sparks as Minho, once again, insisted (with a slightly embarrassed smile) that he was the best at romance. After about half an hour of shifting through the titles and reading the synopses, Jinki chose A Walk to Remember.

“Good choice,” Minho commented and smiled, feeling a little more at ease now with Jinki after having had the chance to properly converse with him. “Oh by the way, my friend over there,” he pointed to the counter, “the one with the red-orange hair, wonders why you always come here to read but never buy anything.”

Jinki’s cheeks dust pink in abashment. “Uhm, well, I read really fast. I can finish a book in the hours that I spend in this shop so I figured it would be a waste of money if I bought it. That and the library in my university doesn’t really offer much. I hope you don’t mind…?”

“Oh I don’t,” Minho said, thinking how absolutely adorable Jinki was with flushed cheeks. “It’s my friend who does. He thinks we’ll go bankrupt if you keep reading here for free,” he teased and tried not to laugh as Jinki’s eyes widened comically.

“Oh God, I’m sorry. I don’t—I didn’t think of that. I guess I should be buying this book then…”

Minho laughed at the way Jinki was fumbling with his words. The fact that he wasn’t the only one who was feeling nervous and jittery gave him a little boost of confidence. “There’s no need for that, Jinki-ssi. Since it’s the first book that you’re buying, it’s on me. Besides, just because one customer doesn’t purchase our books, doesn’t mean we’ll be bankrupt,” he grinned as he lead Jinki to the counter.

“I can’t let you spend your money on me!” Jinki protested.

“Too late,” Minho replied as he checked out the book and scanned his discount card before paying for it. He wrote a small note and slipped it into the book before bagging it and giving it to Jinki. “Think of it as me buying you a drink but instead of a drink, I bought you a book.”

Jinki pouted but took the bag anyway. “I have to make it up to you somehow.”

“Just read the book and come back here, that’ll be enough,” Minho smiled handsomely.

“O-okay,” Jinki replied, trying to fight down the blush that was threatening to spill.  “I’ll see you soon, then?”

“Sure. Thank you for coming, have a nice day!” Minho said and waved at Jinki as he walked out the door.

“I saw what you did there,” Kibum voiced once Jinki was out of sight.

“What?”

Kibum smacked Minho with a book (and Minho wondered what in the world he did to deserve all the abuse today) and hissed, “You paid for him! I told you to tell him to buy a book, with his own money.”

“Ouch,” Minho grimaced and swat at his friend’s hand. “It doesn’t make any difference, does it?”

“You are hopeless,” Kibum sighed dramatically. “And did you ask him out?”

“…No.”

Kibum raised his hand to hit Minho once again but Minho managed to grab his wrist before it came into contact with his skin. “I slipped my number in his book!”

Silence fell between them before Kibum snatched his arm away from Minho’s grip, stomping away while muttering something about Minho not having any balls.

“Did I do something wrong?”

 

♥

 

Minho received a text three days later.

Hello, Minho-ssi. It’s Jinki. I’ve finished reading the book! Well, I actually finished it a couple days ago but I didn’t have time to text you cos I’ve been busy writing up reports ^^; I just wanted to ask…are you free today? If yes, do you want to grab a coffee with me? You know, as a thank you for buying me that book.

Minho grinned from ear to ear as he read the message and quickly typed in a reply.

Hi! Yeah, my shift finishes at 5 pm. Should we meet at the front of the bookstore? And drop the formalities, just call me Minho :)

He received a response not long after.

Then you can just call me Jinki! I think I’m older than you, though. So maybe Jinki-hyung? That sounds better haha. See you at 5 then?

“Jinki-hyung,” Minho hummed, liking how the syllables rolled off his tongue.

See you at 5!

 

♥

 

“So, did you like the book?” Minho asked once they settled into their seats in a quaint little café Jinki brought them to.

Jinki habitually chewed on his straw as he took small sips from his iced Americano. “I did. To be honest…” he trailed off, before continuing in a smaller voice. “I cried.”

Minho pursed his lips to keep himself from laughing but the way his six foot frame was shaking with mirth gave him away.

“Go ahead, laugh all you want,” Jinki pouted cutely, making Minho’s heart skip a beat.

“I’m sorry,” Minho apologised as he wiped at the corner of his eyes. “I didn’t mean to laugh. I just—it’s okay, I cried too when I read it.”

“Really?”

Minho nodded. “Whoever doesn’t cry when reading one of Nicholas Sparks’ books has a heart of steel.”

“You know…I didn’t think you were the type to read romance novels,” Jinki commented, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Hm? And why’s that?” Minho asked, arching an eyebrow as he brought his steaming cup of coffee to his lips.

“I don’t know. You give off the cool vibe. I mean, you’re tall and handsome…if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re the type to read comics or action novels.”

“Ever heard of 'don’t judge a book by its cover'?” Minho chuckled, trying to keep it cool and not get too excited at the fact that Jinki had just called him handsome. “While those are my favourites, I don’t particularly mind reading romance novels once in a while. You could say it’s my guilty pleasure. It kind of gets boring to stick to just one particular genre, you know what I mean? Plus…you may not know me long enough yet to know this but…my friends tell me I’m a cheeseball,” he admitted rather begrudgingly.

This time, it was Jinki’s turn to laugh. “Well then, I can’t wait to know that side of Choi Minho.”

 

♥

 

A month into their friendship and it’s like they’ve known each other forever. Minho and Jinki occasionally meet up (sometimes at Minho’s place, sometimes at Jinki’s and on occasions, when Kibum is in a good mood, he offers up his place) to discuss books, eat and have a few laughs.

This time, they were at Kibum’s apartment, two boxes of pizza on his coffee table and a few cans of cola lying around as Minho and Jinki got into a heated argument.

 “If Savannah really loved John, then she wouldn’t have married someone else,” Minho argued.

Jinki rolled his eyes and retorted, “She didn’t marry Tim because she loved him! She wanted to help him; she had no other choice!”

“Everyone has a choice.”

“You’re an idiot,” Jinki harrumphed and chucked a piece of olive at Minho, hitting him square in the eye.

“No you are,” Minho retaliated, throwing slices of onions in return.

A mini food fight started between the two as they continued to call each other names, that is, until Kibum showed up.

“What the hell, you’re both idiots!” he shrieked. “My living room’s a mess! I am never letting you two in here again.”

“That’s what you said last time,” Jinki grinned cheekily.

Kibum glared at him. “I was just starting to like you. Don’t make me change my mind.”

“Relax, Kibum,” Minho said, tossing unwanted crust in his direction hoping the younger man would join in the fun. To his unfortunate luck, the food landed straight on Kibum’s face—which only angered him even more.

That night, Minho walked home with a cola drenched shirt.

 

♥

 

“So,” Kibum began, flipping the store sign to ‘closed’ before joining Minho behind the counter, sitting himself down with a tired sigh. “When are you going to tell him you like him?”

Minho let the question hang in the air for a few seconds as he counted the day’s earnings. Once finished, he tied the cash and stored it away into a safe box. “Soon,” he hummed.

“But that’s what you said last time! And the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that,” Kibum ranted. “You’ve had many chances. Hyung comes here every day. What’s holding you back?”

“Nothing,” Minho mumbled. “I don’t know if Jinki-hyung likes me that way.”

Kibum stared at Minho in disbelief and then proceeded to give him a good smack on the head.

“Ow! What was that for?!” Minho screamed.

“You have got to be the biggest idiot ever,” his friend replied, hitting him again, this time, on his arm. “How can you not see that he makes as much googly eyes at you as you make googly eyes at him?!”

“Stop hitting me!” Minho whined, slapping Kibum across his back. “And will you stop saying googly eyes? It’s really irritating.”

“But it’s true. Every time you two meet this is what you do,” Kibum said, pulling his lips into a cute smile and batted his eyelashes, imitating both Jinki and Minho.

“We do not do that,” the taller of the two denied, trying to sound stern but the face his best friend kept making caused him to burst into laughter. He shoved Kibum. “I hate you.”

Kibum grinned, pushing Minho back. “The feeling’s mutual, Choi. Now, all you need to do is turn ‘hate’ into ‘love’ and say it to Jinki-hyung.”

Minho stuck his tongue out childishly. “No.”

“Minho…” Kibum glared.

“You can’t make me.”

“Oh I can. And I will,” the red-head declared determinedly, attacking Minho with a series of slaps and punches.

The playful fight between the two friends continued on until they heard a few taps to the store door. They stopped, looked at each other before glancing outside.

At seeing who it was, Kibum smirked. “Speak of the devil,” he said, prying away from Minho to unlock the door. “Hyung, you do know we’re closed, right?”

Jinki smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t have time to swing by earlier. Is it alright if I come in?”

Kibum shrugged, stepping aside to let Jinki in. “Sure.”

“Thanks,” Jinki mumbled, sighing in relief as the cool air of the air conditioning came in contact with his skin. “Is Minho around?”

“Present!” Minho raised his hand and grinned cheekily at Jinki. “Hey, hyung.”

“Hey,” Jinki smiled back.

Kibum went back to his position behind the counter, whispering “googly eyes” at Minho as he passed him. Minho tried to discreetly kick Kibum.

“What brings you here?”

“What, I’m not allowed to visit my two favourite dongsaengs?” Jinki chuckled. “I was wondering if you guys wanted to join me for dinner. Since it’s the weekend tomorrow and I don’t have classes, we can eat then maybe go for noraebang!”

“Sure, I’ve got nothing on after this,” Minho replied, smiling. “Kibum?”

Kibum feigned a yawn and stretched his arms high above his head. “Sorry, I’ll pass. I’m tired and I need to get my beauty sleep.” He packed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “But have fun! I’ll see you on Monday, Minho. And hopefully you too, hyung,” he smiled, mouthing at Minho to ‘Tell him!’ when he was out of Jinki’s sight.

Minho resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned his attention to Jinki instead. “I guess it’s just you and me, hyung.”

Jinki grinned. “Yup.”

“Let me just lock down the shop and we can make our way to dinner. What do you feel like having?”

“I’m craving Italian.”

Minho chuckled. “Let’s go.”

 

♥

 

Lady luck didn’t seem to be on Jinki’s side as they stared up at the closed sign of his favourite Italian restaurant. He pouted, rubbing at his grumbling stomach in despair. “But I wanted spaghetti…”

Unable to bear the look on the older man’s face, Minho took him by the wrist and led him to the nearest supermarket.

“Minho? Where are we going?” Jinki questioned, still sad over the closure of the shop.

“Buying ingredients,” Minho answered, releasing Jinki’s hand to grab a shopping basket and immediately went to the pasta section, Jinki trailing behind him. “I make pretty good spaghetti if I do say so myself,” he continued, grinning proudly at the other man.

Jinki’s eyes immediately twinkled with excitement. “You can cook, Minho?”

“I try my best,” he replied, walking off to the meat section. “So, do you want seafood or chicken?”

“Chicken, of course!”

Minho laughed. “I didn’t even need to ask, did I?”

 

♥

 

Fifteen minutes later, they were at Minho’s place, Jinki sitting at the kitchen island with a drink in his hand while the taller man worked at chopping vegetables.

Jinki openly stared at Minho, sighing good-naturedly every now and then. He watched as Minho’s arms flexed with every movement, unconsciously wishing that he could run his hands over the protruding veins. “You’re really, really good-looking, you know?” he blurted.

Minho stopped his actions and looked at Jinki, an amused smile tugging at his lips. “What did you say?”

“Huh? I didn’t say—” Jinki’s eyes widened. “Oh God, did I just say that out loud?”

Minho chuckled, cutting the last bits of vegetables before throwing them into a pre-heated pan. “Yes, hyung.”

Jinki’s cheeks flared red. “I—I didn’t mean to. I mean, of course I meant it. You’re handsome, anyone with a set of eyes can see that but you know, I just…uhm…” he babbled. “Is the pasta ready yet?”

To save Jinki from his embarrassment, Minho followed the flow of the conversation. “Mhmm, I’m just making the sauce. The spaghetti should be ready in a couple of minutes,” he said, checking the pasta that was boiling in another pot. “Why don’t you set the table, hyung? You know where the plates and cutleries are, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Jinki nodded, hopping off the bar stool and grabbed two plates and two sets of forks and spoons.

Minho hummed softly under his breath as he continued to cook. Once the food was done, he combined the sauce and spaghetti into one bowl, mixing the two together for a bit before serving it in the middle of his small, round dining table. “Dinner is served.”

Jinki took a good whiff of the meal and released a satisfied sigh. “It smells good.”

“It’ll taste even better,” Minho said with a smile. “Dig in, hyung.”

Jinki wasted no time and scooped a good amount of the spaghetti onto his plate. He twisted the long strands around his fork and brought it into his mouth.

Minho watched closely for his reaction.

“Oh my God, Minho,” Jinki moaned. “This is delicious!”

“Really?” Minho grinned in triumph, serving himself a good portion of the food. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it. It’s better than that restaurant’s. From now on, I’m going to come to your place every time I want pasta,” the blonde man declared, stuffing his face with more food.

Minho chuckled. “You’re welcome any time, hyung.”

A comfortable silence fell between the two men as they cleared their plates, but was quickly broken by Jinki who suddenly let out a loud burp. He giggled sheepishly and blushed, “Oops, excuse me.”

“That’s really nasty,” Minho joked and laughed, standing up and carrying the dirty dishes with him.

“I said excuse me!” Jinki snickered, following after Minho. “Let me do the dishes. Since you cooked and all.”

“Nonsense, you’re the guest,” the taller man protested. “Go wait in the living room.”

But Jinki would have none of it. He pushed Minho aside with his hips and made space next to him. “I’ll wash and you rinse.”

Minho sighed. “Such a stubborn man. Anyway, do you still want to go to noraebang after this? Or do you want to do something else?”

“Hmm,” Jinki thought as he scrubbed a plate. “I’m kinda feeling sleepy now. Must be because I ate a lot. So no noraebang.”

“What about a movie?”

“Yeah, that sounds good! Oh! Speaking of movies, I watched The Notebook a few days ago.”

“Before reading the book?” Minho gasped, pretending to look shocked. “I thought you promised you’d read things first before watching any productions.”

“Shut up,” Jinki laughed, tossing suds at Minho’s direction. “I never made such promises. And watching the movie only made me want to read the book more.”

“So did you start yet?”

“Nah, I was thinking of coming into your shop to buy it next week. Since Kibum might scold me again for free-loading.”

“He would,” Minho chuckled. “Did you like the movie though?”

“Yeap!” Jinki nodded enthusiastically, only to frown moments later as he passed Minho a cleaned dish. “But what is with Nicholas Spark’s and making me cry?! Does he have that effect on everyone?”

“Pretty much,” Minho replied, amused. He rinsed the plate and placed it over the dish rack, doing the same with the next few ones.  “The Notebook’s probably one of his best-selling works. And it was the first one he published too.”

“I can’t wait to read it then! If the movie was that good then the book must be even better,” the blonde man hummed, washing his hands once all the cleaning was done.

Minho followed suit before bringing Jinki into his living room. “So what do you wanna watch?”

Jinki shrugged and plopped himself comfortably on Minho’s couch, grabbing a pillow and hugged it to his chest. “Anything’s fine with me.”

Nodding, Minho took the first DVD he came in contact with and slipped the disc into the CD player. He dimmed down the lights and settled in next to Jinki, close enough for their knees to touch.

Jinki muffled a yawn behind his hand and then laughed when the title of the movie appeared. “Twilight? Seriously, Minho? I didn’t know sparkling vampires were your guilty pleasure too.”

Minho playfully shoved Jinki aside, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “It’s not mine! I didn’t even know it was there. It must have been my nephew’s…” he grumbled, making note to kill Taemin later.

“Riiiight,” the smaller man sniggered, obviously not believing Minho.

Minho let out a childish “hmph” and Jinki laughed some more before they fell into silence as they watched the movie. However, only thirty minutes in and Jinki was already yawning again.

“Minho, I’m bored. Let’s play a game,” he suggested.

“What game?”

“Hmm…” Jinki thought as he pulled his legs up, crossing them and turned to face Minho. He grinned. “Thumb war.”

“What?” Minho chuckled.  “Are you joking?”

“I’m serious.”

“O…kay,” he replied unsurely, mimicking Jinki’s sitting position and held his hand out.

Jinki beamed and locked hands with Minho. “Winner gets to ask the loser one question.”

“Deal.”

“One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war,” the two sang, and started off the game, Minho quickly winning the first round with his larger thumb.

“Ha! I win! I get to ask you the first question,” Minho exclaimed excitedly. “Uhm…what’s your favourite colour?”

Jinki chortled. “Of all questions you ask me that? It’s green.”

Minho grinned and replied, “I want to get to know you better.”

They began the game again, groaning and grunting as they fought, seemingly taking turns at winning.

“What’s your favourite food?”

“Meat.”

“Do you prefer night or day?”

“Night, because that’s when I can sleep.”

“What’s your favourite place in the world?”

“Aw, c’mon. Ask more serious questions. Korea, because it’s home.”

“Well, you started it. And aren’t you a sentimental guy.”

“Shut up, don’t make fun of me. Do you like the course you’re taking in university now?”

“Don’t be rude to your hyung. Yeah, I do. It’s a bit tiring at times because of the long hours in the lab but it’s something I really enjoy so I don’t mind it much.”

“That’s nice.”

“So, how come you’re working and not studying instead? You and Kibum should be second year students at this point if I’m not mistaken.”

“Kibum is studying but he’s doing it part time. He wants to go to art school or something in the future so he’s trying to earn money for himself. And his family since they’re not particularly well off. As for me, I’m simply not interested. Dad wanted me to go to business school but I wanted to take up literature instead. We argued a lot, things got complicated and I just didn’t want to study anymore. I got the shop after graduating high school—my mom and my brother helped me out a lot. The old man wasn’t too happy at first but I convinced him and told him I’m running a business just like he wanted to and at the same time, I’m doing something I love. So.”

“That must’ve been tough.”

Minho shrugged. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. I mean, of course it was hard at first since I barely had any experience but I managed to pull through with mom, hyung and Kibum’s support. Plus, life isn’t any fun when there’re no challenges, right?”

“You competitive freak,” Jinki rolled his eyes. “Now ask me something!”

“Do you realise that we’ve stopped the game?” Minho laughed.

“Yeah, but this is getting interesting so let’s continue,” Jinki said, nervousness suddenly washing over him as he asked the next question. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, “Do you…do you have a girlfriend?”

Minho’s heart skipped a beat, the atmosphere between them turning serious. “No, hyung. I don’t. How about you?”

Jinki shook his head, eyes anywhere but on Minho. “Do you have someone you like then?”

Minho observed Jinki’s movements closely and listened to his heart, hoping that this was heading towards the direction he hoped it would. “Hmm, I do.”

Jinki snapped his head to look at Minho, eyes wide with curiosity…and hope. “R-Really? Who is it?”

“I thought you could only ask one question, hyung. And it’s my turn, not yours,” Minho chuckled softly when Jinki pouted. “Do you have someone you like?”

“I do,” Jinki answered and his direct and quick reply almost surprised Minho. “So…who is it?”

Minho pursed his lips, hesitating slightly. This was his chance though, and probably his only one, so he was going to take it. It’s now or never. “Can I kiss you?”

“Hey, you aren’t supposed to answer my question with ano—” Jinki froze when Minho’s words sunk in. “W-What? Can you…say that again?”

Minho took a deep breath. “I said…can I kiss you?”

Blood rushed to Jinki’s cheeks as he slowly, and shyly, nodded. “Yes.”

Minho smiled and cupped Jinki’s face, leaning in until the distance between them was closed. Jinki wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck, butterflies swarming in his stomach as he returned the kiss.

“Does this mean you like me?” Jinki whispered against Minho’s lips.

Minho captured Jinki’s lips in a kiss once more and smiled. “Yes.”

 

♥

 

“…I think I’m going to throw up.”

Minho and Jinki pried away from each other, their lips swollen and bruised as they looked up at Kibum. Instead of feeling embarrassed that the red-head had caught them during their little make-out session, Minho grinned and pulled Jinki tighter against him. “Oh don’t be jealous.”

“Trust me, I’m not,” Kibum replied with a roll of his eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, the shop is still open. So please take your PDA elsewhere.”

“Relax, Kibum,” Minho said, burying his nose in the crook of Jinki’s neck and nipped at his skin. “We don’t even have any customers around.”

“Kibum’s right, Minho,” Jinki reasoned, biting down on his lip and trying not to moan as Minho left a trail of hot kisses down his neck. He wriggled in the taller man’s lap. “We should stop.”

Minho gave one last bite before pulling away, pouting. “You’re no fun.”

Jinki tried to catch his breath before giving Minho a small peck. “That look doesn’t suit you,” he laughed. “And I have to get to class.”

This only made Minho pout even further. “Do you have to?”

“Of course,” Jinki replied, sliding off of Minho and grabbing his backpack. “I’ll call you later tonight, okay?”

Minho sighed and nodded, walking Jinki over to the door. He leaned down to give him one last kiss. “Bye, be safe!”

“I will!” Jinki waved.

“I’m so glad that’s over. I was seriously beginning to think that you’d eat him right then and there. And stop it with that face or I’ll punch you.”

“You might have to because I still feel like this is all a dream.”

“What? The fact that you and Jinki-hyung are together?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think he’d like me back,” Minho said in all honesty.

“Seriously, like I said before, it was obvious that you two liked each other. The only ones who couldn’t see it were you.”

“So what do you think of us?”

Kibum raised an eyebrow but looked away as he muttered quietly, “I think you’re both cute. Except when you’re hanging all over each other like just n—hey, hey get off of me you giant!”

“Does that mean you approve of us?” Minho asked cheerfully, not even loosening his hold of Kibum.

“Why do you even need my approval? It’s not like you’re getting married. And you never asked for my opinion before,” Kibum huffed.

“Jinki is different. I really like him. I think we’re going to stay together for a long, long time so I want you to like him too, since you’re my best friend and all.”

“Ugh, please save your cheesiness for Jinki-hyung. I don’t need it in my life.”

Knowing that it was Kibum’s own, unique way of saying yes, he did like Jinki, Minho squeezed his friend even tighter, laughing happily.

 

♥

 

“Bad day, hyung?” Kibum asked as Jinki came in with a sigh, uncharacteristic frown on his face.

Jinki nodded sadly, sliding his bag off of his shoulders and slumped onto a nearby chair. “Yeah.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really. It’s just one of those days where things just aren’t going the way you want them to, you know?” Jinki said, flashing the other man a small smile. “But thank you, Kibum.”

Kibum hummed, awkwardly patting Jinki’s back, not knowing what else to do. “Cheer up. I’m sure your date with Minho will make you feel better. He’s been looking forward to it all week.”

“Really?” the blonde laughed softly. “Then I guess I shouldn’t bring the mood down, huh? Speaking of, where is Minho?”

“He’s at the back, getting ready,” Kibum replied. “He should be out—oh there he is.”

Jinki smiled widely upon seeing his boyfriend, pushing away his negative feelings. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Minho grinned, giving Jinki a quick kiss. “Kibum, you’re okay with closing the shop, right?”

“Yeap. Now go, have fun!”

Minho nodded and offered his arm towards Jinki. “Shall we?”

Jinki got up and hooked his arm around Minho’s, grabbing his bag and waved goodbye at Kibum. “Let’s go.”

 

♥

 

“I’ll have the steak with mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce, please,” Minho ordered, smiling charmingly at the waitress that served them.

The woman blushed, jotting down Minho’s order and then continued to stare at him as if Jinki didn’t exist.

Jinki’s hands tightened around the menu as he coughed loudly, finally gaining attention from the waitress. “I’ll have the butter chicken, please,” he gritted his teeth, glaring at her.

She gave him a once over and made a face, reluctantly taking note of his order before taking both their menus and walking away.

“Are you okay, hyung?” Minho asked in concern, noticing that Jinki wasn’t looking very happy. They were on a date after all, the last thing he wanted was for Jinki to be grumpy.

“Yeah, I am totally okay watching that woman flirt with my boyfriend and see him flirting back,” Jinki huffed.

“Huh, what are you talking about? I just smiled at her, that’s all.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

“Jinki…” Minho started, reaching out for the other man’s hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I don’t even know that woman, let alone like her. You’re the only one I love, you know that, right?”

Jinki sighed, knowing that he was in the wrong and felt guilty for ruining their date. But when he was about to reply to Minho, the waitress came by again and purposely brushed her hand against Minho’s arm. He saw red and snapped, getting up from his chair angrily and ran out of the restaurant.

“Jinki!” Minho called out, apologising to the customers who had their dinner interrupted and ran after his boyfriend. He groaned upon noticing the heavy rain but when he noticed a blonde-headed figure in the distance, he ran without a second thought, clothes and hair quickly getting drenched. “Jinki!” he shouted again, catching up to the older man and grabbed him by the wrist. “Are you crazy? You’re gonna get sick!”

Jinki sniffled, his tears hidden by the rain washing over his face. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I just had a bad day. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I just…that woman really irritated me. And then, I was thinking what if you left and I…”

“Shh,” Minho hushed Jinki, hugging him close to his chest. “You should have told me. We didn’t need to go out if you weren’t feeling well.”

“But you really wanted to go out on a date…”

“I would’ve been fine cuddling at home too,” Minho smiled, pushing Jinki’s bangs out of the way as he cupped his cheeks. “And what did I say? I only love you. I will only love you. And it’s going to stay that way for a while. Maybe even forever. If you’re willing to put up with me that long.”

Jinki laughed for the first time that night. “You know, that sounds suspiciously like a proposal.”

“Maybe it is,” Minho shrugged, no more words exchanged between them as Minho swooped down to claim Jinki in a passionate kiss.

Jinki moaned and pressed closer to Minho’s body, grabbing tightly at the front of his shirt, returning the kiss with fervour. He pulled away when his lungs screamed for oxygen and leaned his forehead against Minho’s, panting heavily. “You know, this is pretty cliché. The whole, making up and kissing in the rain thing.”

Minho chuckled. “Life’s too short to not have a little Nicholas Sparks moment.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jinki snorted and then continued, “I just hope we get a happy ending.”

“And I’ll be sure to make that happen,” Minho smiled, knowing that they probably still had a lot to get through, but he wasn’t worried, because he had Jinki by his side.

After all, love conquers all.