The next day would be the first day of the pre-wedding activities, a fact that should've made Junmyeon very happy.  It meant that by the end of the week, Yixing would be wearing a simple gold band, telling the world to take a step back because he was married.

If one listened to what others said about Junmyeon, one would be inclined to believe that all of the passing glances at Yixing by people that weren't Junmyeon, motivated the "possessive" man to ask the other's hand in marriage.  Junmyeon would admit that it bothered him, but then again, he'd once been one of the men and women ogling at Yixing, asking for the time of day.

Junmyeon, however, fell hard the moment that Yixing gave it to him. How could he not?  Yixing was a breath of fresh air when Junmyeon surrounded himself with toxic people that only fed his ego.  He brought Junmyeon down to earth, which was one of a million reasons that Junmyeon was hopelessly in love with Yixing.

However, Yixing invited Minseok.  Minseok caused a whole mess of problems that he would prefer not to solve.  He still had to tell Jongdae.  He had to prepare for damage control in respects to both Jongdae and his relationship.  He had no clue if Minseok was spiteful.  He'd spent several years telling Jongdae that he deserved better and that Minseok was nowhere near good enough for him.  If only Jongdae had listened to him.  They wouldn't be in this position.

"Can you go to the store?" Yixing asked sweetly, his dimples denting his cheeks.  He clung to the door frame, poking his head into Junmyeon's home office.

Junmyeon set down his pen; he intended to write something that had been lost under his worries. "What for?"

Yixing took a step in, inhaling deeply, "Jongdae is coming over later, and I was hoping that we could make some ice cream sundaes.  I'm hoping that he'll spill about how it's going with Fei."  Yixing walked around his desk, ultimately sitting himself in Junmyeon's lap as he pushed away from the desk.  His arms wrapped around Junmyeon's shoulders, biting his lip shyly while putting on his puppy dog face.

Junmyeon clasped his hands while Yixing's back, looking up Yixing, leaning into his embrace. "What do you need?"

Yixing smiled, quickly spilling out the "required" items, "Chocolate and vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, graham crackers, and marshmallow fluff."

"There's a price, you know." Junmyeon teased lightly, giving a mischievous grin.

Yixing took Junmyeon's face in his hands, pulling him forward slightly as he leaned down to place a kiss squarely on Junmyeon's mouth.  He repeated the action three times with a smile on his lips.  "Thank you." Yixing whispered placing a final kiss on Junmyeon's nose.  He launched himself out of Junmyeon's lap, wiggling his fingers as he waved goodbye, leaving Junmyeon's office.

"Love you!" Junmyeon shouted towards the door.

"Love you more!" Yixing yelled back, his voice coming from down the hall.

That was how Kim Junmyeon found himself on aisle three of the local grocery store, wondering where the management had decided to hide the marshmallow fluff.  Somehow the weight of the following week crushed him in the middle of buying things for his fiancé.

He gripped the plastic handles of the wire basket so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.  He'd already collected the sauce, sprinkles, and graham crackers, but he needed to find the fluff before going to select the finest vanilla and chocolate ice cream from the freezer section.

Junmyeon crouched, scanning the bottom shelf, eyes finally locking onto a container of fluff.  He reached for the jar, surprised his hand bumped into another.  His gaze shifted upwards, meeting eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses.  The face was not one that Junmyeon recognized, which would've been odd.  While the town was known for its wealthy citizens, it was a small and close knit community.

"Sorry." The man muttered, retracting his hand and straightening out his back.

Junmyeon grabbed a jar of marshmallow fluff, sticking it in his basket.  He snatched a second one and stood up, offering it to the stranger.  "It's just as much my fault.  Are you here for the wedding?"  Junmyeon asked, knowing that it was the most likely reason for a face he did not know.

The man was surprised, his eyebrows arching up as his eyes widened and lips parted. "Yes.  How did you know?" He asked as his finger wrapped around the offered jar.

"It's a smaller town than you'd think.  Who are you here for?" Junmyeon inquired simply to satiate curiosity.  If it was from his side, it meant that the man was the date of a guest.  If not, it was one of Yixing's guests, in which case, Junmyeon had to make the best impression possible.  Though Yixing constantly assured him that everyone would love him, he was not a confident in his ability to woo them as Yixing seemed to be.

"The groom." The man replied, his face immediately contorting into a confused visage.  He seemed to do the math in his head, moving his finger back and forth as his eyes shifted towards the ceiling. "I'm sorry.  I'm the guest of an invitee of Mr. Kim." The man perked up, both hands fully grasping the container.  His lips quirked into a smile, baring his teeth as his eyes formed crescents.

"I see." Junmyeon muttered, amused by the man's slight airiness.  There was something endearing about how genuine he was. "What do you need the fluff for?"

"It's for his brother's birthday and I was hoping to get in his good graces.  He likes s'mores... Well, Minseok said he likes puppies more, but I don't think that would be prudent.  Not that I could afford one if it even made sense to buy a dog.  So I decided s'mores cupcakes." He mumbled, but Junmyeon very clearly heard Minseok's name.

This was the guy.  The man who would undoubtedly cause Jongdae so much pain.  The man that Minseok was bringing to the wedding.  Junmyeon wondered how serious their relationship was.  He hoped that it would be minimal, the pain it would bring to Jongdae; he was unsure of whether or not he could bear watching Jongdae break the way he had the first time.

Somehow, Junmyeon pitied the man blathering on before him.  He was certainly good looking with eyelids that cut downward and a nose that sloped at the perfect angle.  His thin lips were the perfect pink to contrast the alabaster skin that stretched over smooth cheekbones.  When he smiled, his mouth was less of a curve than one would usually see.  It all worked for him though.  Even the rectangular glasses resting on the bridge of his nose accented his beauty.

If this stranger, Minseok's guest, was in love with him, it meant that he would be on the receiving end of hostile stares and the subject of countless whispers exchanged between the attendees of the wedding.  Junmyeon immediately tried to shut down any amicable feelings for him.  He would dislike this man, if that's what Jongdae needed.

The stranger finished his spiel.  "Anyhow, I am Byun Baekhyun."  Baekhyun extended his hand with a warm smile on his face, "Pleasure to meet you."

Junmyeon accepted, "I guess I'll see you at the wedding."  He responded curtly, immediately dropping the hand.  He moved to the freezer section, hoping that he wouldn't encounter Baekhyun again until tomorrow, when he would officially meet Minseok's guest.

Baekhyun stood frozen, hand still extended.  Perhaps he'd gone on too long about Jongin's birthday gift. He must've said something wrong, for the kind stranger to drop his hand like it was acid.

He stared at the fluff in his hand.  It was imperative that he get on Jongin's good side.  He held many of the answers to the questions that he had accumulated in regards to Minseok's past.

Baekhyun pushed his glasses up, pressing the bridge flush to his face. He was more motivated than ever to find out about the mystery man in Minseok's photo strip.  Minseok looked happy, truly happy.  It was an expression he'd never seen Minseok wear.  He was the one that got away.  That was about as much as Baekhyun could piece together from the tenderness with which Minseok handled the piece of photo paper.  The longing for the happiness and love that he'd felt in that time.

Baekhyun had decided; it was his job to tape the pieces of Minseok's heart back together.  He was going to make sure that his best friend could either get closure or win back that man from the photo.  The man with high cheek bones and lips that curled up at the corner.  The man that proposed to Minseok.  

What was his name?

Baekhyun stared at the jar in his hands.  Did Chanyeol like s'mores too?  Baekhyun scolded himself for losing focus so quickly.  It'd been all of three hours since Baekhyun's heart announced that it was incredibly attracted to him.

He was tall, and he had a nice smile.  Baekhyun found his ears cute and liked the fact that when Chanyeol spoke, his voice touched his soul.  His heart did that stupid thing where it would beat twice as fast as he needed when he looked at the taller. Infatuation could be downright annoying.

Baekhyun resumed his wandering through the store, plucking ingredients that he would need to make his cupcakes.  Cupcakes were just about the only thing he could bake.  It was the only thing that his college roommate had taught him.  Kyungsoo was always baking and cooking and shoving new creations in front of Baekhyun for him to try.  There was such enthusiasm behind his eyes when he spoke of cooking; it was inspiring really.  Baekhyun briefly wondered whatever happened to Do Kyungsoo.  Halfway through senior year, he dropped out due to a family emergency.  He'd been so close.  Baekhyun hoped that Kyungsoo got to be a chef, like he'd always dreamed.  They hadn't spoken in a while; Kyungsoo had been under pressure.  It was a loss of friendship that stung more than he liked, but he was confident that if, no, when he saw Kyungsoo again that they would have volumes to talk about.  They would click as if no time had passed.

Baekhyun set his items on the conveyor belt, not truly paying attention to the woman scanning his items.  he was lost in his own world.  Tomorrow would yield many of the answers he'd been seeking, or at the least the answer to the biggest question.

Indeed, tomorrow was a day to look forward to.

a/n:

Hey guys! again, I'm going to thank you again.  As you may have noticed, Minseok isn't there, don't worry, we'll get back to him ^^

anticipate!

you're lovely.  leave a comment or upvote or subscribe (if you haven't)

I'll see you soon.