A/n: I would like to congratulate you all on having the patience to wait for this. Thank you~ As a reward, you get this finally part lol. BUT, though this is the last bit, I'm planning on having an epilogue or something after this because not enough loose ends were tied here and I'm not satisfied with that, so I need to explain them. (So look forward to an epilogue in the future.) Meanwhile, I hope enjoy this!

“Jongin. You’re doing it again.”

“Huh?”

Kyungsoo was smiling half-amusedly. “You zoned out. You seem to do that a lot when you get confused; you get this kind of panicked look and then it just goes blank.”

He was so perfect; Kyungsoo didn’t even seem mad, even though this apparently wasn’t the first time Jongin had done this. “Sorry,” Jongin uttered, feeling like a major idiot. “I just – yeah, I’m kind of a step-by-step guy, and when I get too much information it’s kind of… overload.”

In all honesty, he had just been caught up staring at Kyungsoo’s mouth, not hearing the words, just watching words being formed by perfect lips, his mind drifting off to the bedroom upstairs (that was yet unknown to him). He was stupid, and he knew it, but he wasn’t entirely to blame when Kyungsoo was all gorgeous and wonderful and they were all alone. What had Kyungsoo expected, inviting him over like this?

This was the fourth week Jongin had come over to Kyungsoo’s house for extra lessons. The past three Sundays, he had gone over at four, and they had made and eaten dinner together. And then Kyungsoo had invited him to stay over, and they had hung out and talked for hours until it was late, and Kyungsoo suggested Jongin sleep there. So three weeks in a row, Jongin had slept and woken up on Kyungsoo’s couch, and then Kyungsoo had drove him to work. And he was kind of very much in love.

But he wasn’t getting any better in the kitchen, and he really needed to start focusing. If anything, it felt like he was getting worse (which wasn’t actually possible because he was the worst, but still, he was managing to push the standards here). Jongin figured if he weren’t being paid for it, Kyungsoo would probably have given up on him already. And if it weren’t for the extra hours with Kyungsoo, Jongin would’ve stopped too.

“That’s okay,” Kyungsoo assured him lightly. “I’ll just go slower.” He chuckled, and Jongin knew he was laughing because Kyungsoo was already taking it slow for his sake, and Jongin still didn’t get it.

When he looked back to Kyungsoo’s counter, all the objects had become foreign to him again. This was how he felt every week; even if he did the same thing week in and week out, it would just confuse him; he mixed things wrong, he made things wrong, he was impatient and got whiny when he messed up a lot. Fate seemed to have already decided that he would just never learn the art of cooking. Why was he still here again?

Because you’re in love with your straight cooking teacher, he reminded himself. And you’re making just as much progress there as you are with the food.

Kyungsoo didn’t notice Jongin’s increasing despair as their lesson went on, but then, Jongin figured he probably didn’t notice much about Jongin at all, really. Jongin was just another pupil to him; a particularly stupid one, but a pupil nonetheless. Certainly not a romantic figure. There were a grand total of zero times that Kyungsoo flirted with him, looked at him a certain way, or made any sign whatsoever that he was interested in Jongin. As a friend, maybe, but romantically… it just wasn’t there.

And why would it be? Kyungsoo was straight, after all, and Jongin was by no means a girl. He was hardly even feminine (he thought); and most importantly, he couldn’t cook to save his life. Which was what Kyungsoo wanted in a girl. Could Jongin be farther from Kyungsoo’s ideal?

“Urgh!”

Frustration taking over his mind, the cucumber he’d been slicing came out all wrong; none of the pieces were the same size. And he could smell burning – the egg he was supposed to be cooking which was now surely ruined. Everything was wrong. Kyungsoo probably only cared about the stupid food. He probably never thought about having Jongin in his room, or got lost in thoughts of kissing Jongin, or got distracted by how beautiful Jongin was (not that Jongin thought he was that beautiful anyway; not as perfect as Kyungsoo). Kyungsoo didn’t love Jongin, and it wasn’t changing, and he was just wasting his time telling himself anything else.

It was about time he gave up on this one, accepted the inevitable heartbreak, and moved on.

“It’s alright Jongin, it’s not that bad-”

“It is that bad! It’s not alright at all!” he snapped. Kyungsoo looked shocked, clearly taken aback by his outburst. Kyungsoo had seen him get upset before, but usually Jongin handled it pretty well with him around. The fact that he reacted that way made Jongin feel immediately guilty, and he knew it just wasn’t going to get better. Still, Kyungsoo reached out to touch his arm gently, reassuring.

“Don’t worry, Jongin,” he soothed. “You just need some more time. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“No, Kyungsoo, I won’t,” Jongin groaned, stepping away from his touch, and Kyungsoo’s hand fell hesitantly back to his side. “I’m just – a total failure. I’m a failure and I might as well just give up now, because this obviously isn’t meant for me.”

Kyungsoo’s fingers brushed the back of Jongin’s hand again. “Hey, don’t talk like that.” His eyes were soft, but he looked a bit sad, as if it really did bother Kyungsoo that Jongin was so ready to quit. “I know it’s not easy. I wasn’t that great when I first started trying either. But you can’t just give up; it’ll work out eventually. You’ve just got to keep trying.”

Jongin shook his head. Kyungsoo had stepped closer to him, and was drawing him in again, but Jongin pulled back, shrugging off the feeling of warmth and happiness and pain that came with being near the older. “Some things just aren’t meant to happen,” he said firmly, not looking at Kyungsoo as he said it. But Kyungsoo started to speak again and Jongin cut him off, looking him in the eye and saying, “It’s not going to work between us, Kyungsoo!” His heart stuttered when he realized his slip about between us, and he saw Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and knew he’d just sold himself out, but he couldn’t take it back. So instead he took out the money he owed the older for the class and threw it on the counter, muttering, “I’m sorry. I quit,” before hurrying out and not looking back.

“

It was fair to say that Sehun was an unenthusiastic participant in Chanyeol’s Bro Sunday. He was not pleased with himself for doing something Chanyeol asked him to – again – that he didn’t want to do; nor was he pleased that Jongin wasn’t helping him whatsoever. (No; Jongin had decided to start spending his Sunday nights with Kyungsoo, although he reported having no success so far. Sehun had a feeling he was just lying now, because they were all enjoying watching him be tortured by freaking Chanyeol. Jongin was probably in Kyungsoo’s bed right now, the two laughing at how Sehun had been ered into Bro Sunday. Ugh.) So no, Sehun had to go to Chanyeol’s on his own, while Jongin was probably getting laid.

Sehun was in super self-pity mode by the time he reached Chanyeol’s apartment, which meant he was not impressed when he found the older standing outside waiting for him. Instead, he rolled his eyes, pulling his car onto the side of the street and shutting it off, reluctantly bracing himself for the upcoming hours of obnoxiousness. It began the second he stepped out of the car, when Chanyeol called to him cheerfully – and loudly. Why did he have to be so loud?

On the elevator ride up eighteen floors, Sehun remained silent while Chanyeol chattered away. Chanyeol’s apartment wasn’t that impressive, although he had posters splayed across the walls which made the place at least slightly interesting. He actually had a few posters for bands and games that Sehun liked, but Sehun refused to acknowledge that that made Chanyeol slightly cooler (because he was still too annoying for Sehun to ever want to be friends with; besides, for all he knew Chanyeol had just stalked him and bought those posters to impress him).

“Sorry for the mess,” Chanyeol said brightly, though when Sehun frowned at him he noticed the other looking a bit embarrassed. “It looks better than it did an hour ago, but yeah. I’m kind of a messy person.” Sehun shrugged. Honestly, so was he; and so was Jongin (dear lord, he was a whole other level of mess), so Sehun was used to living with that.

“So what are your plans for the evening?” Sehun asked somewhat grumpily. “You’re not making me cook anything, right?”

“No,” Chanyeol laughed. “I thought I’d order in something. Unless it would impress you if I made us a pizza, in which case I will get on that right away.”

“I wouldn’t be impressed,” Sehun retorted. He had made pizza himself before, it wasn’t that hard. (What did Chanyeol think he was, Jongin?)

“Ordering in it is, then,” Chanyeol said with his usual grin. “Did you want me to call now?”

“It can wait.”

“Cool. I have beer and endless video games, if either of those appeal to you.” And that was how they ended up playing what Chanyeol called the best game in the universe – a pretty underrated game that was Sehun’s favourite game ever (and somehow, Chanyeol was actually two levels ahead of him, which made Sehun both annoyed and impressed). Apparently, Chanyeol was a pretty legit gamer. (As to what he did for a living, Sehun didn’t actually know. Maybe he was like Jongin and mooched off his rich parents.)

After several rounds (in which Sehun found himself getting his thoroughly handed to him), he said, “So did you just invite me over to play video games then?”

“Yeah, man, that’s what Bro Sunday is,” Chanyeol returned, grinning without taking his eyes off the screen. “Violent games, takeout and cheap beer. Kyungsoo’s not into that kinda stuff so it’s usually Solo Sunday.” Sehun had to snort at that. He was glad Jongin shared most of the same interests as him; they probably wouldn’t be friends if Jongin didn’t game so much (although he still wasn’t as good as Sehun). “Why, what did you expect?”

“I dunno,” Sehun replied, before groaning as Chanyeol killed him in the game again. “You to keep up all your romance crap. Flowers and wine and all that lame stuff.”

“Nah, not on Bro days. But I’ll remember all that for future reference,” Chanyeol winked, making Sehun roll his eyes.

“No, I said those are lame,” he shot at the older. “Flowers are lame; Jongin always brings flowers home from work and its lame. And people who drink wine are wimps.” That wasn’t actually true. One of Jongin’s exes drank wine and she had actually been one of Sehun’s favourites. She was also one of the few who hadn’t broke Jongin’s heart when they broke up (which was one of the reasons Sehun liked her so much) and they were still friends, and yeah, Sehun wouldn’t call her a wimp or any other bad name. But still. Drinking wine with Chanyeol would probably be really weird and not fun.

“Okay. No flowers, no wine,” Chanyeol nodded. “Guns and hard liquor only, like real men.” Sehun rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling a little bit at the exaggeration. “And epic punk metal music.”

“I’m not totally against punk metal,” Sehun said, and he actually felt like laughing. (Okay, so maybe Chanyeol had a sense of humour.)

“Where have you been all my life?” Chanyeol asked dramatically, turning to look at Sehun in awe.

Before answering, Sehun used the opportunity to take sweet revenge and take the other out of the game. “I dunno. I’ve always been in Seoul.”

“So have I,” Chanyeol replied. “Us and like ten million others.” He grinned, and Sehun continued to battle various other assailants. Instead of reloading, Chanyeol set down his controller and announced, “I’m ordering dinner now. Also, I have a six pack of subpar beer waiting for us. I spent like, a whole extra dollar more than I usually do to get a fancier kind; I hope you’re impressed.”

“Blown away already,” Sehun said, deadpan. A second later, his character was blown up on screen and Chanyeol burst into laughter at the convenient timing. The older laughed so much that Sehun ended up laughing as well, just because it was so ridiculous. At least he’s easily amused. Sehun wasn’t a particularly funny guy, so people who could be entertained by small things usually fit well with him. Not that Sehun was trying to fit Chanyeol with him in any way.

Twenty minutes later, they were laden with far too much food for two guys (though Sehun was sure they would finish it anyway) from the greatest Chinese food place in the whole freaking world.

“Seriously, have you been creeping on me or something?” Sehun asked as he eyed the assortment of deliciousness now covering Chanyeol’s coffee table. “You have my favourite game, you like half the bands I do, and now you eat at my favourite restaurant?”

“Hey, you’re not the only one in the world who knows about these things,” Chanyeol said, mock-defensively. “Just because they’re not very popular doesn’t mean no one else likes them. I just happen to have good taste.”

Sehun dug in immediately, not even bothering with plates, the video game long since forgotten in the face of amazing food. “I’m actually considering coming back here every Sunday just so I can eat this stuff,” he admitted with a grin.

“Don’t you ever eat it at home? It’s not even expensive.”

“Yeah, but Jongin’s all It makes my stomach hurt. He ruins my life, I swear,” Sehun groaned.

“That’s basically the primary function of best friends,” Chanyeol pointed out. “Although I think I have the better end of the deal with Kyungsoo.”

No kidding. “At least you appreciate the good things in life. Unlike Jongin, who ruins everything ever, all the time. He like, blasts stupid love songs and dances around like an idiot and destroys all our food and he won’t watch DC movies and he can’t even eat good takeout. And like every time I turn around he’s in love with someone else and he’s such a pain. Like he’s my best friend but he is also the biggest pain in my , I swear.” Sehun shut his mouth, realizing that he had just said a lot, like wow. He had actually run out of breath there; when did he ever talk so much? I have many complaints about Jongin and no one to share them with. He slurped up a huge amount of noodles to spare himself from any further talking, and didn’t look at Chanyeol but saw the other nodding out of the corner of his eye.

“We should trade,” Chanyeol told him, taking a sip from his bottle casually while still keeping his eyes on Sehun. “Jongin and Kyungsoo would be perfect together.”

Sehun almost choked on his noodles, coughing and swallowing them down quickly. “What?”

“They can have their flowers and wine, and we can go on killing rampages and drink ourselves under the table,” the older said with a wide grin. Oh. That was all. Sehun had been worried Chanyeol had figured Jongin out (although Sehun was pretty sure anyone with eyes could), which… well, Kyungsoo’s best friend was probably the second last person Jongin wanted to know about his feelings (after Kyungsoo himself).

The rest of the evening went by surprisingly easy, although Sehun guessed it was improving in increments of consumed alcohol, making Chanyeol slowly more bearable. (That was at least part of it anyway, and it was the excuse he was staying with.) Although Chanyeol became gradually more obnoxious, he didn’t reach the level of annoying that Sehun was used to in class; Sehun supposed he was worse in a group, or he was just trying to tone it down since it was just the two of them.

But Sehun was starting to think that maybe Chanyeol wasn’t such a bad guy – at least, he wasn’t bad all the time. And he was also kind of thinking that hanging out with Chanyeol like this was… well, something he could do sometimes. At least when he needed a break from Jongin (which was often, but he would limit himself). Chanyeol and Sehun actually had a fair bit in common, and it was nice to get to enjoy things he liked (rather than suffering Jongin and all the weird things he liked) with someone else. Who knew that someone would be Chanyeol, of all people?

The time passed so comfortably that before Sehun knew it, it was going on ten o’clock and he realized he needed to be getting home (not that Jongin would be there, since he was always at Kyungsoo’s on Sunday nights anyway, but Sehun had no plans to stay over at Chanyeol’s place). So he finally excused himself, feeling less relieved than he had imagined several hours ago at the thought of leaving, though he wouldn’t admit he was reluctant to go.

“Thanks for coming over Sehun,” Chanyeol said as he hovered around the younger, while Sehun slipped on his shoes. “It was really cool hanging out with you.”

“Yeah, it was… yeah,” Sehun offered eloquently, keeping his eyes on his laces. Alright, so he had enjoyed himself, but there was no reason to feed Chanyeol’s ego, or his obnoxiousness. He straightened up, and wondered how exactly he was supposed to say goodbye; knowing Chanyeol, they would probably have to Bro hug or make a Bro handshake or something.

But when Sehun glanced at his face, Chanyeol looked a bit like he was worrying about the same thing. “Hey, Sehun?”

“Hm?”

“I… Have I ever told you that I like you?”

Sehun blinked. “Um, you’ve made it pretty clear, yeah.”

“Right,” Chanyeol nodded slowly. “I just thought I should tell you, you know, explicitly. So yeah, I like you.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” And Chanyeol seemed pretty disappointed, as if he’d been expecting a different answer. Or hoping for one. I like you too. But Sehun couldn’t say that, because it wasn’t true and that wasn’t fair to the older. Instead, the awkward silence grew between them for a moment, until Sehun finally opened his mouth to say I guess I’ll be going then or something along those lines, but Chanyeol cut him off before he could even speak.

“Wait!” he said, too loudly, and Sehun flinched at the suddenness. Chanyeol just stepped forward, fumbling over his words. “I have to – or I never will – I’ll regret it – I-” And then he pulled Sehun towards him and kissed him quickly, taking a second before pulling away. Sehun was stunned, but he didn’t have to say anything as Chanyeol grinned back at him, somewhat shy.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol offered a bit breathily. “I had to do it now, or I’d be too chicken to ever do it later.”

“Uh huh.” Sehun was a bit blank; Chanyeol had just kissed him. He had just been kissed by another guy. It hadn’t even been long enough for Sehun to really feel any way towards it, to make a real judgement on how it had been or anything like that. But wow, that had just actually happened to him.

“I just thought I’d show you I’m a better kisser than Jongin,” Chanyeol told him, and Sehun frowned. Ugh, I don’t want to think about kissing Jongin ever, ew.

“I have no idea if Jongin is a good kisser or not,” Sehun returned, unimpressed at having to discuss this subject – the idea of his best friend kissing him. Bleh. Please stop. “Though judging by the fact that everyone always breaks up with him, probably not.” Okay, that was a bit mean, and Sehun would never say that to Jongin’s face (since he was a sensitive little flower boy), but he figured Chanyeol would appreciate his humour. Chanyeol did, laughing sincerely (and his laugh, which Sehun had long ago noticed, was a bit scary; but somehow it fit Chanyeol well, in an almost endearing way). “Why would I ever kiss him anyway?”

“You might have said otherwise, but I still am convinced you like him,” Chanyeol shrugged. Sehun gagged.

“Ew. Please do not even joke about that.” Ew ew ew ew ew. Again, Jongin may have had the power of the gay on his side, but that power did not – and would not ever – work on Oh Sehun. “Me liking Jongin is like – so many levels of gross.”

“What about you liking me?” Chanyeol asked suddenly, voice going soft. Sehun stared for a moment, surprised at how abruptly… childlike the other looked. It was the first – and maybe only – time Sehun would ever label Park Chanyeol as looking innocent, pure even.

“That… is less levels of gross,” Sehun said slowly, and Chanyeol looked just barely perceivably hopeful. “I don’t like guys though.”

At this, Chanyeol looked put out; Sehun was struck by how much it was really like watching a candle being extinguished, his eyes dimming of brightness, his whole frame losing its liveliness. It was like a different person altogether. “Of course. It’s alright, I didn’t really expect anything else.”

“But I like you,” Sehun went on carefully, a bit surprised at his own words. The older looked equally shocked as his eyes shot up to meet Sehun’s. “Maybe not in the same way as you, but – I wouldn’t be against like… getting together, as friends, like today. And just, maybe… seeing where it goes?”

“Okay.” Chanyeol’s voice sounded suspiciously forced to remain calm. “That would be – really awesome.” And he broke into a grin before adding, “No take-backs. I’m holding you to that as a verbal contract.”

Sehun rolled his eyes, his heart beating a bit nervously because he wasn’t exactly sure what he had just committed himself to. After today though, he kind of thought it – whatever it was – probably was as bad as he would have imagined.

“I’m going home now,” he said, sounding more annoyed than he really felt, but Chanyeol was grinning from ear to ear and didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“Okay,” he said, returning to his full-on cheery self and getting the door for the younger. “Goodnight Sehun.”

Sehun just shook his head. “Goodnight, Chanyeol.”

“

When Jongin got home – after having walked from Kyungsoo’s house – Sehun wasn’t there, and it took him a moment to remember that his best friend had gone off to hang out with Chanyeol. He spent his evening in his room, blaring music loudly and only leaving to get himself something to eat (because, as sick as he felt, he still got hungry eventually). Not even bothering to try to cook – in fact, he was never going to cook anything again – Jongin settled on a bowl of cereal, taking it back to his room and shutting himself in for the rest of the night.

Somehow, eating made him feel more miserable (which was a first because eating was usually a relief regardless of context), and it was hard to swallow even the smallest bites. Eventually his cereal got soggy (not from tears; just because he couldn’t eat it) and Jongin really felt like throwing the bowl across the room but he knew better, knowing he would just have to clean up the mess and not feeling like it at all. Instead he left the still half-full bowl on his desk, turning down his music and flopping down on his bed, wrapping himself up in his blanket. He curled in on himself, wishing he had turned his light off and instead throwing his blanket over his head. Within seconds Jongin felt his eyes tearing up and he just lay there and cried.

That was the end of it. No more time with Kyungsoo. No more having the older help him make his food less disastrous, or giving him encouraging smiles when he did things right – or when he did things wrong – or talking to him for hours about nothing in particular or getting to know each other or falling in love and having their happy ending. Just like every single guy before him, Kyungsoo wasn’t the one for Jongin. Honestly, Jongin was starting to truly believe he wasn’t meant for anyone. Maybe he was just gonna live with Sehun for the rest of his life, having the younger cook for him forever, selling flowers to happy couples and other successful guys.

He was still crying when Sehun came home a while later, but he forced himself to stay quiet when he heard the younger come into his room, asking if he was still awake. When he got no response, Sehun turned off Jongin’s stereo and closed the door quietly, and Jongin began crying again immediately. Eventually he reached a point where he couldn’t take it anymore, and dragged himself over to Sehun’s room, crawling into the younger’s bed and curling up beside him. Sehun protested in annoyance until he noticed Jongin was shaking, and then he let Jongin settle in and cry himself out, rubbing his back lightly until the older passed out.

In the morning Jongin woke up to find Sehun still hugging him, which was extremely comforting even if it made nothing better. At the very least he still had his best friend, even if he was going to be alone forever. Because honestly, Sehun was probably going to be alone forever at this rate too; he like, never dated anyone and he didn’t seem at all bothered by it. So they could just be alone together. It was probably better that way anyway.

Sehun woke up moments after Jongin, frowning at finding him in his bed but then looking slightly sympathetic before muttering, “You look like crap.” It made Jongin feel like crying again. “It must be bad if you won’t even hit me,” Sehun said quietly, and Jongin didn’t reply. “Wanna talk about it?” Jongin shook his head, and Sehun sighed. This wasn’t their first time going through this, but it felt like the worst to Jongin and he felt sorry that his best friend had to put up with him again.

“I’m gonna make breakfast,” Sehun told him, rolling over him and heading out of the room. Even though Jongin had hardly eaten last night and his stomach was growling desperately, the thought of food made him feel nauseous. Still, a few minutes later Sehun was forcing him out to their dining table and sitting him down to eat.

“The cereal in your room absorbed all the milk and looked really gross and cool,” Sehun said as Jongin all but fell into his chair, hardly bothering to keep himself up. When Jongin didn’t even react to what he had said, Sehun added, “But I figured you wouldn’t want to eat it.” Still, Jongin gave no acknowledgement of the joke. “Anyway, eat. You have to go to work soon.” At this, Jongin nodded once sadly and began picking at his food.

Work was terrible; really. Eight hours alone with his thoughts and nothing to fill them but last night repeating itself endlessly, and every memory he had with Kyungsoo seeming to come back to him with great detail. He went around and watered every flowerpot slowly in a way that he had never bothered to do – usually he just dumped the water in and moved on, but today he took his time, letting water seep in rather than overflowing before he poured in more. This ate up his whole morning, but the afternoon dragged by agonizingly, and he closed the shop an hour early, not even caring if people came in after he left.

The next day was no better, and out of boredom he took stock of all the flowers in the place. Then, for no good reason, he began testing himself on all the meanings of the plants, writing them down the side of his list. Jongin found himself annoyed when he could remember almost all of them; maybe if his mind wasn’t so full with all this useless crap he would have been able to at least remember steps when he was cooking. But that didn’t even matter because Kyungsoo would never have been interested anyway, even if he had become a famous professional chef or whatever.

It hurt to think about that, so he didn’t.

He got home early again, and found Sehun making them dinner already. Actually, he was making dinner for one – and apparently it wasn’t for himself.

“I’m going out for dinner,” Sehun explained when Jongin asked if he had been forgotten. “But I thought I’d make you something so you didn’t have to worry about it.”

“Going out?” Jongin echoed weakly.

“Yeah,” Sehun replied, sounding a bit wary. “Chanyeol asked if I’d go see that new movie with him, since I guess K- no one else will go with him. And you won’t go because it’s a DC movie, so…”

Somehow, Sehun and Jongin managed to still be friends even though Sehun liked DC more than Marvel (well, maybe not more than Marvel, but the fact the he like DC at all made him a slight enemy to Jongin). Right now, that wasn’t really on Jongin’s mind. “You’re going to a movie with Chanyeol?”

“Um, yeah,” Sehun said slowly. “It’s cheap movie night.”

“But… Chanyeol?”

Sehun nodded. “He’s actually kinda nice once you get past the annoying part,” he shrugged, but something in his features was making Jongin feel nervous.

“And… you’re having dinner with him?” he asked. Sehun gave another nod. “Is this a date?”

He hated the look he got; Sehun looked genuinely apologetic before he returned his eyes to the stove and shrugged. And when Jongin looked the other over, he realized Sehun was – not dressed up, but he had clearly put effort into his outfit for once; it was actually coordinated and everything.

“Sehun, are you going on a date?”

“…Yeah.”

“With his best friend?”

“Jongin, do you think I planned all this?” Sehun turned around, looking somewhat exasperated. “I didn’t ask me to go to those freaking classes or be harassed for months by Kyungsoo’s best friend until I was practically forced to cave in.” Jongin cringed at his name. “I didn’t choose for Chanyeol to be a pretty cool guy, nor did I choose for him to like me. I’m not dating him. It’s hardly even a date; you know that’s not my thing. But-”

“Of all the people,” Jongin said angrily, snapping suddenly. “All the freaking people and it had to be him, huh? I thought you couldn’t stand him, Oh Sehun? Now you suddenly want to date him? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me?” Sehun shot back, equally angrily now at Jongin’s attack. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you, Jongin? Why can’t you just give up on the freaking guys who don’t like you back as soon as you find out, rather than waiting and hoping they’ll change their damn minds? Because they never do, Jongin! And then you hurt yourself all over again – and it’s you who does this, not them. Because Kyungsoo doesn’t even know you like him, and you’ve known he was straight all along but you kept going back!”

“I went back because you told me to!” Jongin shouted.

“Well then I’m just an idiot, aren’t I!?” Sehun cried, turning off the stove in frustration and throwing his hands up. “It’s all Sehun’s freaking fault!” And he shoved past Jongin before the older could say anything else, heading to the hall and grabbing his shoes. “Screw this,” he snapped as he pulled them on; then he went out the door, slamming it behind him and leaving Jongin on his own.

“

The movie ended just after ten, and Sehun more or less went straight home. There had been no kissing; he had permitted Chanyeol to hold his hand for a brief period of time when they walked from the parking lot to the movie theatre, but that had been the extent of physical contact between the two. It had been a nice evening – it hadn’t really felt like a date, and Sehun was relieved because he was not a very romantic kind of guy. On top of that, there had been something of a cloud hanging over both of them; Sehun hadn’t been able to shake his argument with Jongin, which was understandable because he never really fought with Jongin. And it hadn’t been fair of him to get mad at the older, because Sehun knew that was how he was when he got hurt. Meanwhile, Chanyeol had been half-distracted throughout dinner too, saying that Kyungsoo was feeling pretty down lately. He didn’t explain why, but Sehun guessed.

He wondered what exactly had happened between Jongin and Kyungsoo. Maybe Jongin had confessed, and Kyungsoo had rejected him but he felt really bad about it. It didn’t seem to matter though; their relationship – whatever it had been – was clearly over.

Sehun got home to find all the lights off, the apartment silent. In the kitchen he found Jongin’s unfinished meal exactly as he’d left it, and it made Sehun feel a bit sick. He headed to his own room, changing into his pajamas quickly before going over to Jongin’s. Peeking inside, it was dark in there as well, but when his eyes adjusted he made out the lump that was Jongin curled up on his bed, pressed up against the wall and shivering.

“Jongin?” he whispered, receiving no response. Sehun slipped into the room and sat down cautiously on the side of Jongin’s bed, expecting to be attacked (which he felt he deserved). But Jongin still didn’t move. “I’m really sorry, Jongin… About what I said, and about the thing with Chanyeol… and that you have to go through this. I wish you didn’t have to feel like this every time.”

Jongin sniffled quietly but didn’t say anything, and Sehun didn’t know what more to say either, staying there in silence for a long time before asking softly, “Are you okay?” He didn’t really expect an answer, but then Jongin whimpered no and shuddered. “Do you want me to sleep here?” Sehun asked next, and Jongin gave a barely visible nod, but that was good enough for Sehun, who lay down and hugged Jongin tightly as he had done the past two nights, hoping his best friend would feel better soon.

Jongin deserved so much better than this.

“

On Wednesday morning Jongin woke up to find that his hunger had finally surpassed the sickness bubbling in his stomach; having skipped a meal every day since Sunday – and hardly eating the meals he hadn’t missed – his body was starting to be deprived (and very betrayed). So he got up and made himself a bowl of his favourite cereal, refusing to waste any of it. Sehun came out just as he was finishing, and Jongin felt a slightly sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Hey,” Sehun offered, still half-asleep. Jongin got up slowly and took his bowl to the sink, rinsing it and watching his best friend almost nervously. The younger went about as if nothing had ever happened between them. Except they almost never yelled at one another, never fought; they hadn’t for years. Sure, they bickered over little things sometimes, but that was just normal best friend stuff (especially now that they lived together). And it was pretty obvious that Sehun got frustrated with him sometimes when Jongin was in a never-ending cycle of falling in and out of love, but he didn’t actually say so (usually). Then again, Sehun never dated the best friends of the people who Jongin had broken his own heart over.

“How was your date?” Jongin asked softly when he shut off the sink.

Sehun didn’t look at him, focusing on the toast he was buttering. “Good. Food was good, movie was good. Not that you’ll ever know.”

“Do you like Chanyeol then?”

“He’s alright,” Sehun said casually, throwing his knife in the sink and taking a bite of his – not burned – toast. “He gets more bearable when you give into him, I guess.”

Jongin nodded slowly. “That’s good…” He didn’t really know what to say. He was happy for Sehun if he had possibly found himself a good relationship or whatever it was, but… It still stung for so many reasons. The fact that it was His best friend, the fact that Sehun had just sprung this on him two days after he’d said adios to Him and hello to heartbreak, which made it feel like Sehun had been hiding this from him. And that Sehun had been the one to get into a relationship when Jongin had been the one trying to, and Sehun had been so adamantly denying Chanyeol the whole time…

On top of that, “So does that mean you like guys after all?”

Sehun’s forehead scrunched up in displeasure. “I’ve been avoiding thinking about that,” he muttered. “No, I don’t, honestly. I’m not really thinking of Chanyeol romantically right now. But… I’m seeing how things go.”

“Okay,” Jongin sighed, feeling slightly sick, partially from jealousy and partially from his ill feelings towards Sehun just because he was happy and Jongin wasn’t. “Don’t come to me if you need kissing practice or something.”

“Ew,” Sehun scowled, and Jongin offered a tiny smile before Sehun grinned back at him. “Go get ready for work.”

“Don’t you work today?”

“Nope,’ Sehun said seriously. “I quit my job. Gonna live off your flower money now.” Jongin blinked, torn between confused and annoyed, but then Sehun laughed. “I’m kidding. I’ll be gone when you get home.”

“Jerk,” Jongin mumbled, hitting the younger playfully. He earned a grin, and then he went off to the bathroom to shower. (It was about time he showered. He hadn’t since Sunday morning and it was starting to get gross. The good thing about working in a flower shop was that all the scents he was surrounded by all day generally covered his B.O; but still, there was a limit to what even he could bear of himself, and he didn’t want to have to push that.)

To deal with the unbearable amount of time he had at work today, Jongin decided to put his stupid knowledge of all those stupid plants to use, making little tags for each pot and writing down their meanings on them. This was a very exhausting process, and it took all morning just to make the tags and cut them out, and another hour after he took his lunch break. Then he had to reorganize all the plants so they were no longer colour coordinated but rather grouped by the type of flower they were. (Jongin did choose to put them in alphabetical order, which was actually a pretty consuming task.) This took another couple of hours, but by three he had things sorted and was finally able to start tagging all the pots.

Feeling rebellious, Jongin started from the bottom of the alphabet, neatly placing every slip of paper in view on each pot. This was the kind of thing that you could do when you worked in a flower shop and had about five customers a day. It was also the kind of thing Jongin needed to do to keep his mind from turning on him and throwing him into complete misery.

He had only made it halfway through the plants when a customer came in, and Jongin was surprised to find that it was already after four-thirty when he glanced up at the clock. It was probably a good thing that someone had come in, otherwise he might have kept going after hours.

It wasn’t a good thing that that someone who came in was Kyungsoo. When Jongin came out of the aisle to greet whoever it was, he wanted to disappear immediately and possibly become a flower so he wouldn’t have any excuse to deal with Kyungsoo right now. Why the hell was he here?

Well, it’s Wednesday. I guess he only knows one flower place in the whole freaking city. As long as he didn’t try to convince Jongin to come back, or talk to him at all preferably. Like he would even want to. The way he had looked when Jongin had made that slip on Sunday was enough to know exactly how Kyungsoo felt about him now. If he had thought Jongin liking Chanyeol was bad… Well, at least Kyungsoo hadn’t been a part of that. But now…

“Hi,” Kyungsoo offered softly, looking reluctant to be there. Jongin couldn’t find his voice anymore, and just nodded at the older instead. “I’m just… here for-”

“Flowers?” What else did you go to a flower place for? It’s not like he was buying fertilizer.

“Yeah…”

“Well, they’re everywhere,” Jongin sighed. “Take what you want.” And without waiting for Kyungsoo reaction, he went back down the aisle he’d came from and refocused all his attention on sticking his tags to the proper plants.

He was quickly reminded that Kyungsoo had come in early, and thus had all the time in the world to wander around and browse everything, which was apparently exactly what he did. (Jongin refused to pay any attention to him, but his mind still focused on the other’s footsteps as they travelled through the room.) Soon the older was passing in the aisle Jongin was working in, and he hesitated beside Jongin for a moment.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo wondered lightly, and Jongin was wondering himself when the boy’s voice had become so quiet. Not that he had ever been a particularly loud person, but it sounded like every word he spoke was going to break if they weren’t careful.

“Labelling things,” Jongin said, doing his best to sound indifferent. (He didn’t think he did a good job. If Kyungsoo’s words had become fragile, then Jongin’s had become heavy and broken.) “For people who care about knowing what they mean.”

“Oh,” was all Kyungsoo said before carrying on. When he left the aisle, Jongin glanced up at the clock; fifteen more minutes until he could leave. Kyungsoo still seemed to be in no hurry – which he really should have been, because he had places to be soon himself, did he not?

After a few minutes, Kyungsoo came back, this time holding a bunch of flowers in hand. “Jongin?” It took physical effort for him to suppress a wince, but he looked up at the older like it didn’t bother him in the least to hear his name coming from the other’s mouth. All the hours of staring the past few month allowed Jongin to be able to picture the word on Kyungsoo’s lips without even having to see it. “What do these ones mean?” Kyungsoo asked, holding them up and not meeting Jongin’s eyes.

It took a second for Jongin to recall the striped yellow flowers, and then he remembered that they were one of those stupid flowers with many meanings. Why did Kyungsoo have to make his life so hard, even now?

“Well… they’re carnations,” Jongin said slowly. “Which generally mean like… divine love and crap. I guess they’re for your soulmate.” Kyungsoo looked up at him uncertainly, and Jongin just shrugged. “I never said I believed it.”

“I know,” Kyungsoo told him, still looking unsure. “So, they’re good then?”

“Not exactly,” Jongin replied. “With carnations, each colour means something different. And there’s a difference between striped and solid ones too.” Kyungsoo waited expectantly. “Generally, striped ones mean ‘no’. So if someone asked you out or something… It’s kind of like a reluctant no, though, not just ‘screw you’. Like… ‘Sorry, but no’.”

“Oh…”

“And yellow ones are for… either rejection or disappointment,” Jongin continued. “Or, ‘I’m disappointed and reject you’. So I guess striped yellow means ‘I’m sorry but you’re a disappointment and I reject you’. Not the nicest flowers around.”

Kyungsoo looked ready to throw the flowers, but he didn’t and Jongin was glad (because that would be messy and Jongin wanted to leave as soon as he could, not be stuck around cleaning up). “Why do I always pick the worst flowers?”

Jongin shrugged. “Because you’re as good with flowers as I am with cooking?” he said without thinking, and Kyungsoo broke into a smile which Jongin couldn’t stop himself from returning. But then it faded, because despite how normally things might have felt for a second, Jongin had to remember that things were over between him and Kyungsoo now.

“I’ll put these back then,” Kyungsoo said, brushing past Jongin rather than going back the way he’d come. “Can you tell me what the others mean?” he added as he went, and Jongin hesitated before following after him reluctantly.

“You mean carnations?”

“Mm.”

They reached the farthest aisle and Kyungsoo stopped to return the flowers he had taken out. Being faced with the flowers, Jongin blanked again. “Um… The pink ones are – all I can think of is funerals, which was my trick to remembering them, but I don’t know what they actually mean…”

“I don’t think I want flowers that are connected to funerals,” Kyungsoo pointed out, and Jongin nodded. Right. They were for a dinner, after all. “What about red?” he asked next, glancing up at Jongin as he spoke. Jongin wasn’t sure why he couldn’t look away, but he kept his eyes on Kyungsoo’s when he answered.

“My heart aches for you,” he said quietly, before looking away and attending to a dying flower in one of the pots. “It’s… yearning, or admiration. I don’t know how it can be both, but anyway…”

Out of the corner of his eye Jongin could see that Kyungsoo was nodding quietly, and then the older pulled out his phone, checking it quickly before pocketing it again. Of course. I’m just wasting his time here. He has better things to do than listen to the only thing I know anything about. Because Jongin didn’t know anything about cooking, and he clearly didn’t know anything about love either.

“These ones are good then,” Kyungsoo told him, picking up the pot and holding them out for Jongin again. Jongin took them, doing his best to avoid touching the other, but Kyungsoo’s hand just barely grazed against his as he let go, and Jongin sighed internally (and maybe externally). This was probably as close as he would ever get from now on; a few minutes once a month. Jongin would rather just never see him again.

They headed up to the counter in silence and Jongin was quick to cut the flower stems at their base and wrap them up. He tried not to think about how much it felt like he was giving those flowers in particular to Kyungsoo; he just hoped if Kyungsoo came back, he would get a different type next time.

It was a habit by now to discount Kyungsoo’s purchases, and Jongin didn’t bother to stop himself today either. He wouldn’t care if Kyungsoo just took them away; he just wanted the older to go away so he could deal with how much this was going to cripple him. It wasn’t so much that he’d seen Kyungsoo again today – it had only been three days, Jongin was ages away from any thoughts of recovery – but the idea that he might not get away from Kyungsoo in the future that made Jongin want to quit his job, or move shops or something. Because when Jongin was able to cut himself off from the people he fell in love with, it was much easier than ever having to see them again.

He would just have to close the shop early on the days he knew Kyungsoo was coming.

“Thank you Jongin,” Kyungsoo said as Jongin shut the cash register.

“Yeah,” Jongin returned sadly before watching Kyungsoo walk out the door. With only a few minutes before closing, Jongin waited until he knew Kyungsoo would be long gone before he went and flipped the sign on the door, then went back to the aisle where he’d left all his tags and whatnot. He gathered them up, leaving the rest for tomorrow (although he did consider staying to finish it off; he decided against it because he didn’t want to stay in here anymore tonight).

Leaving everything at the counter (because no one else was going to be in there before he was again, so it didn’t really matter), he grabbed his bag from the backroom and threw on his sweater before going out and locking up. He wasn’t sure why he’d been hoping for rain, but he was let down by the perfectly clear, orange-tainted skies. Oh well. Just let me go home.

With a sigh, Jongin began to make his way home, however about three shops down he was stopped as a certain someone came out of the doorway and confronted him.

“Hi Jongin.”

All he could do was stare, and Kyungsoo looked down shyly. Vaguely Jongin registered the flowers still in Kyungsoo’s hand.

“I’m not very good at this,” Kyungsoo mumbled. “But these are for you.” And then he held up the bouquet. Jongin glanced down at them before returning to stare at Kyungsoo blankly.

“What are you doing here?” You’re supposed to be at your house with those. You’re going to be late. Why are you here wasting your time on me?

“I work here,” Kyungsoo gestured at the restaurant he had just come out of. “I, um, waited here for you.”

“Okay?”

“Are you going to take these?” the older asked weakly, holding the bouquet up a bit further. Again, Jongin gave them a second of attention before returning to Kyungsoo. The boy was blushing slightly, but Jongin still had no control over his tongue right now, and couldn’t find anything to say. What was he supposed to say? Seeming to realize that Jongin wasn’t reacting, Kyungsoo dropped his hand back to his side, looking very disappointed.

“They’re yours,” Jongin told him dumbly, as if that wasn’t obvious.

“I bought them for you,” Kyungsoo replied, sounding slightly hurt, but Jongin was too confused to even hear it.

“Why?”

Kyungsoo looked up at him skeptically and the hurt in his voice was mirrored in his eyes, but when he noticed that Jongin was genuinely confused as hell right now, he said quietly, “Because – someone told me that these flowers represent longing, and there’s a million things about you that I long for… And I’ve been longing to tell you. My heart is aching after you, Kim Jongin, and I know you already know that but I just wanted to tell you officially. And even though you’re not a very patient person, I still wanted to ask you if you would give me a chance to prove that I’m worth sticking around for…”

Jongin’s heart was doing terrible, painful things in his chest. “Wh- huh?”

“If anything, even though I can’t teach you how to cook, I could cook for you,” Kyungsoo offered, sounding somewhat hopeless.

“But – I can’t cook,” Jongin stated, and apparently the best he could come up with right now were the most common facts in the universe. “And you’re straight.”

“What? No I’m not,” Kyungsoo frowned, before turning a darker shade of pink.  “I mean, I am mostly. I always was before I moved here, but… years with Chanyeol as my best friend made me open-minded, I guess. I – I like you a lot, Jongin, I’m obviously not straight. Unless you’re secretly a girl.”

“I’m not,” Jongin replied certainly. Unless this was a recent thing he didn’t know about, he was about 200% sure he was a guy.

“Then I guess I’m not all that straight.”

“But Sehun said… Chanyeol told him you’re straight,” Jongin argued. (Why was he arguing, when Kyungsoo himself was saying this about himself, Jongin didn’t know. He wasn’t processing well right now, probably based on the fact that he might have just heard Kyungsoo tell him he liked him. A lot.)

“Chanyeol knows I’m not straight!” Kyungsoo said in frustration before shaking his head. “This isn’t what I wanted to discuss,” he went on more quietly. “I’m trying to tell you my feelings. If you want to reject me, you can just tell me.”

“I thought you liked people who can cook,” Jongin countered, still not accepting what he was hearing. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I am really the universe’s worst – anything when it comes to food. I can eat anything, but I can’t make toast without burning it.”

Kyungsoo laughed at this. “I know,” he smiled. “I noticed. But there’s more to life than cooking, which you should know.” Yes, he knew this very well; he would be sort of screwed otherwise. “I appreciate someone who’ll eat my food as much as someone who would cook with me.”

“I would eat your food,” Jongin blurted, super smooth and eloquent. “Anytime. It’s way better than Sehun’s. Or mine.”

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo smiled. “Though the latter isn’t that much of a challenge.” Although that was very true, Jongin felt the urge to pout (though he refrained). Then Kyungsoo grew serious again. “Jongin, I like you. I’d like to know if I have any hope of a chance with you, or if I should just be going home now.”

“Do you have a dinner tonight?”

“No – Jongin, please!”

“Huh?”

“Stop avoiding my question,” Kyungsoo said weakly, face slightly scrunched as though he were in pain.

“Question?” Jongin answered blankly. What had the question been?

“Will you date me or not?”

Oh. That question. Jongin felt like he was swooning a bit. Somehow Kyungsoo was the one asking him that instead of the other way around, and Jongin was really tempted to ask how Kyungsoo even liked him, but he didn’t want the other to think he was avoiding answering again. So instead he asked, “How am I supposed to answer that?”

He could see Kyungsoo chewing on the inside of his mouth, looking increasingly nervous (and greatly discouraged). “Most people usually say yes or no…”

Another thought popped into Jongin’s mind, which was How many people have you asked that before, then? But he held it in as well. He didn’t need to know that right now (or possibly ever; that was a level of jealousy Jongin wasn’t ready for). Instead of speaking further, he reached out and took the bouquet from Kyungsoo’s hand before stepping forward. Kyungsoo glanced up to his eyes and Jongin felt his heart racing nervously as he leaned in. When he felt Kyungsoo’s fingers on his shirt, he froze, but Kyungsoo just pulled him closer until their lips touched, and then instincts took over for Jongin. His hands were on Kyungsoo’s waist in an instant, pulling the boy painfully close and kissing him almost desperately.

Jongin was amazed when he was the one to pull away, but after a moment he couldn’t breathe at all and regrettably had to stop. Kyungsoo just stared up at him, gasping for breath and blushing deeply.

“Do you wanna come over?” the older finally asked, and Jongin had to hold himself back from leaning back in.

“Only if you explain – everything,” he agreed instead. “And make me dinner. I’m starving.”

“I can do that,” Kyungsoo promised without pulling away. “You work tomorrow though, don’t you?”

“How long is explaining going to take?” Jongin wondered, slightly concerned. Was it possible that Kyungsoo had been stalking him for years or something and had planned all of this out? No. Don’t be an idiot.

He was surprised when Kyungsoo dropped his gaze shyly before mumbling, “I actually had other things in mind.”

Jongin’s stomach tightened, his insides doing weird, twisty-fluttery things. “Does that involve things in your bedroom?” Kyungsoo only nodded, still not looking up but looking thoroughly embarrassed. Oh my God. “I’m glad you said it,” he said, feeling light-headed. “Because I’ve wanted to go there for, um, months? And I never could’ve told you that.” Now Jongin was feeling very warm, and when Kyungsoo finally looked at him in surprise he only felt about twenty degrees hotter.

“Really?” Kyungsoo sounded as stunned as he looked.

“Um, yeah,” Jongin nodded. “Did I tell you the part where I’ve liked you since – the first time I saw you?” As soon as he said that, Jongin seriously started to worry that he was going to catch on fire.

Kyungsoo was shaking his head, slightly wide-eyed. “No, you didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh, well now you know.”

The way Kyungsoo was looking at him was making Jongin want to become a flower again, but it wasn’t at all the same as how he’d felt before. “Is it appropriate for me to kiss you again, or should I wait until later?”

There were so many implications in the word later that Jongin swore he felt himself melting. “It’s always appropriate for you to kiss me,” he breathed, and Kyungsoo smiled up at him, before his smile slid into a smirk.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he grinned, finally detaching himself from Jongin and taking the younger’s hand. “I think I’m going to test your patience for now, though.”

And though Jongin whined and practically begged and reminded Kyungsoo that he was not that patient, it wasn’t until they were at his house and had eaten dinner that Kyungsoo finally gave in. And even though they didn’t make it to Kyungsoo’s room before Jongin attacked, by the end of the night (and they did make it to Kyungsoo’s bedroom eventually) Jongin had decided that Kyungsoo had been and would always be worth waiting for.

A/n: 10K words of CHEESE. (The word "cheese" was not actually used once in this but shhh) I'm happy Jongin finally got to explore Kyungsoo's bedroom with him - and I might have to write about that in the epilogue (just maybe).

Please feel free to tell me about your thoughts on this final part and/or the story overall~ Comments are always appreciated c: For now, its almost 3 in the morning so I'm going to bed.

Kaisoooooo~ (and Chanhun lol but Kaisoooooo~ u3u)