For the Love of.. Books? 

Ch.4 A Step In the Right Direction

By Eiryia

*I changed this to subscribers only because of the more mature turn this story is taking. It's still all fluff though. Just consider yourself warned ^-~*

But do not ask the price I paid,

I must live with my quiet rage,

Tame the ghost in my head,

That run wild and wish me dead

Mino woke to faint singing coming from the other side of the room. Letting one arm follow the smooth bedsheets across the bed he found the spot next to him to be empty. He sat up a little to see Seungyoon pull on a shirt at the other side of the bedroom. He had his back to him and was still not aware that he was awake. Best keep it that way Mino thought and lowered himself back down on the bed and closed his eyes.

Focusing on the low humming of another song he tried to catch the lyrics. The song he was singing sounded unfamiliar to him, but he imagined it would go great with the acoustic guitar as the slow pace created a calm atmosphere.

I don't believe

In being myself

Cause I just don't approve

Of the choices I make

When there's no one there to correct me

To put me in place

And there's gonna be a dance in the backyard

He managed to sneak a peek at him as he passed the bed on his way to the hall. Hair still a mess from the night and shirt buttoned all wrong making it all lopsided. He had a huge smile on his face even though the songs he was singing had sad lyrics. He hurried to close his eyes as Seungyoon peeked inside the bedroom from the hall leaving the door slightly open.

Oh, come with me

Oh, don't be sad when there's a party going on

Come with me, I'll take you

Dancing in the backyard

Was the last part he managed to hear before he was so far away that the words became inaudible.

“I can’t dance” Mino mumbled to himself as he turned away from the light coming from the hall. He figured he might just as well sleep some more and let Seungyoon sneak around with whatever he was planning.

The next time he woke was it to the smell of coffee and to bright daylight. There was no Seungyoon around and he decided after rolling around in bed for a while that there was time to get some coffee of his own. He got dressed and shuffled down the hall and the stairs leading towards the kitchen.

“Oh? You’re up?”

Seungyoon said in a disappointed voice.

“Not happy to see me?”

 Mino joked and sat down by the kitchen island.

“I was making you breakfast”

Seungyoon explained and pointed to the half made breakfast tray.

“Ah, I can go back up”

Mino replied fighting the smuggest kind of smiles that was slowly trying to creep its way up on his face. He was making him breakfast? No one ever made him breakfast. All this bubbling happiness made it hard to sit still and so he moved over to the opposite side of the island to offer his help.

“Your coffee is done”

Seungyoon said before he had managed to do anything else then to be in the way. Mino thanked him and grabbed the mug burning his hands in the process. He mumbled a few complains over his burned hand and hurried over to his seat to put down it down. Mino could see Seungyoon smiling and slightly shake his head at him and he made a small pout to show his disapproval of his mockery.

He took a sip of his coffee and was disappointed to find that it was not as great as the one he got at the coffee shop.

“What’s with the face?”

Seungyoon asked while juggling toast from one side of the kitchen to the other trying not to burn himself.

“It’s not like the last time you made me coffee”

Mino said honestly.

“Well I obviously don’t have all the same equipment as I do at the coffee shop”

Seungyoon replied and appeared to be thinking about something. Mino took another sip of his coffee. It weren’t bad at all so he shouldn’t have complained.

 “We can stop by there on our way if you want to”

Seungyoon said while handing him his now finished breakfast.

“It’s on the way anyway”

They had finished eating, gone over and made a list of things they needed to get for the bedroom before heading out into the city.

It was a warm day with clear blue skies and it lifted the mood considerably even if the two of them were in reasonably good spirits to begin with. Seungyoon was enthusiastic about the IKEA trip while Mino dreaded it like crazy.

Mino had only visited there once before after moving into his own apartment and it had been pure chaos. He had even managed to get lost because he had gone against the arrows on the floor to get back to a different department. The shortcut he took had thrown him for a loop and had ended up having to ask the same person for directions.. Twice.

Arriving at the coffee shop had Seungyoon sneaked behind the counter and spent a few moments speaking with his co-worker before putting on his apron. He helped his co-worker clear the long line before making himself and Mino each their own coffee to take along with them.

Mino watched as Seungyoon came walking over with their coffee; all smiles and dodging a few customers. He was still wearing his apron and he was considering whether or not to make a somewhat erted comment or if it was too early in the morning for such things.

Taking a sip of his coffee had he reveled for a moment over how everything thing had turned out in his favor. From the day Seungyoon first had turned up at the bookstore, to how he had found him his book, their sightseeing and now this whole emergency home renovation project. He liked being of use for someone else and the way his stomach turned whenever their eyes met added another dimension to the entire ordeal. He liked him and not just a little bit. A lot.

“You know, you could bring that a long”

Mino said trying to keep a straight face even though he was feeling sneaky as hell.

“I plan on it”

Seungyoon replied taking a sip of his coffee.

“I’m not talking about the coffee”

Mino said making a real effort to look only lightly amused by his own words. He honestly had to admit that he had thought erted thoughts about that apron since the first time he saw it and he might as well let it be known to the owner of said apron.

“Oh”

Seungyoon said as he followed Mino’s eyes to the apron. He then hit him lightly over the back of his head while blushing like mad and mumbled

“Don’t get any ideas”

Mino just laughed and scratched his head.

“Too late”

He replied as they walked out of the store now grinning his widest smile. Seungyoon’s reaction had been even cuter then he had expected and it was almost too much. He wanted to hug him, or at least hold his hand. He dared not though so he gave him a weak nudge on the shoulder and leaned closer giving him another not so sneaky look.

“Thanks”

He said and Seungyoon put his head to the side looking slightly puzzled before asking

“What for?”

The way Seungyoon looked at him made him feel all giddy and he felt like he could bounce of the wall if he gave it a try.

“For the coffee”

He explained innocently. Seungyoon just shook his head and smiled, a piece of the apron hanging out of his shoulder bag.

They arrived at IKEA and it was even more chaos then Mino had expected. Having taken the subway line they previously had researched about had they managed to turn up pretty close to the place, but it was still a bit of a walk.

“I’m hungry”

Mino said as they walked up the stairs to the second floor.

“We can get something for the road home”

Seungyoon replied picking up a catalogue. Mino left it at that and began hoping for a quick run through of the place. He could not have been more wrong. After arriving at the sofa department had he needed to visit the bathroom and they had agreed to meet up at «the rugs». Turned out they had meant completely different rugs, one the actual rug department, the other the fabric samples for the sofas.

“This is why one always stick together on these kinds of trips”

 Mino said into his phone while studying one of the overview maps.

“Well I just wanted us to be as efficient as possible”

Seungyoon replied slightly annoyed.

“Let’s pick a new spot to meet up, how about the bed section? We are going to need one of those”

Mino smiled, not being able to keep his cheeky comments to himself again

“If only you had told me to meet me by the bed in a different setting”

It was silent for a while.

“At this rate won’t we even manage to finish building it before the guest arrives..”

Another silence

“..and we definitely won’t have any time for testing it”

Mino stared at his phone. Did he just get a cheeky reply back? He was about to say how he was on his way when all he could hear was the sound of Seungyoon hanging up. Was he embarrassed? How cute was that. He increased his pace considerably hoping to catch a glimpse of his still flustered face.

He found Seungyoon by one of the emergency exits looking out the huge door made to look like a window. The warm spring sun kissing his pale skin making him look even better than he had before. His expression was sad however and he was still looking at the phone that he held in his hand dangling by his side.

“Everything okay?”

Mino asked as he approached him.

“Yeah, yeah.. Let’s go find that bed shall we?”

They approached the task with a renewed resolve and had quickly managed to agree on a bed. To decide on a mattress however would they have to lie down to test them. They sat down on one after another making serious remarks for each one. They were on the fifth one when their eyes met and they both suddenly started laughing.

“What?”

He asked looking over at Seungyoon. He just shook his head

“Let’s go with this one”

Mino laid down taking one final rest before leaving.

“Why are you testing it now?”

Seungyoon sai