“So.”

“So…”

“Ah.”

“Hm.”

The short banter and awkward pauses between the two went on for about ten minutes. Needless to say, they were not very experienced at this dating thing.

Yes, in fact, that’s exactly what they were on - a date.

Kim Jongin had finally gotten up the courage to ask his best friend of two years, Oh Sehun, out on a date three days ago. Sehun was packing his things to leave his pottery class, and to his great surprise, when he removed his very well crafted (if he dare say so himself) flower vase from the kiln to cool off overnight, Kim Jongin was nervously pacing around Sehun’s station.

“What’s up, Jongin-ah!” Sehun beamed while placing his vase on the cooling rack.

Jongin stopped pacing and faced Sehun with a nervous look on his face, a look Sehun knew all too well.

“…what did you do?” he asked with a tinge of irritation.

Jongin’s face went from a worried expression to an equally annoyed one.

“What the , Sehun?” he barked.  Whenever I come around why do you always jump to the conclusion that I caused some type of trouble?”

“Because you are you, Jongin-ah,” Sehun casually replied as he continued to clean up his pottery station.

“In my twenty-one years of living I have never encountered someone as problematic as you. Trouble follows you everywhere you go. If you didn’t flood the dorm’s laundry room, you were dancing on private property. If you aren’t getting probation for blasting your music too loud in the showers, you’re busy being chased by campus security for defacing campus property!”

“I really, really had to use the bathroom, ok?! Besides, I didn’t think anyone was watching…” Jongin looked up to avoid the very know-it-all stare he knew Sehun was giving him.

“My point exactly. You never think, which usually ends up with you stuck in hopeless situations and me having to bail you out of said situations,” he said while he put on his backpack and headed towards the door.

“If trouble had a name it would be Kim Jongin. One cannot exist without the other. Like a moth to a flame, trouble follows you everywhere you go, my dear Jonginnie,” Sehun teased his slightly shorter friend as he held the door open for him.

The golden-skinned male smirked and rolled his eyes as he proceeded past the threshold. The taller one followed suit and they began to walk side-by-side back to their dormitory.

“For someone who seems troubled by my troubles, you sure don’t act like you don’t want to be bothered,” he said, nonchalantly putting his hands in his pockets.

“I simply answered your question. I never said you were a bother,” Sehun responded, looking at the ground as they continued their stroll along the crosswalk. Only streetlights lit the way, as most of the shops on campus were closed, or in the process of closing for the evening. It was another hot summer night, another night spent walking home with Jongin.

Sehun loved his walks with Jongin. They were special because the two had shared a lot with each other on those outings. Those walks gave Sehun some of his most cherished memories. To say they mean a lot to him would be an understatement.

“What did you have to tell me, then, if it didn’t involve trouble?”

Jongin’s smile faded and he paused for a few seconds before he said, “Oh Sehun, there is a time in every man’s life when he must face his fears, grab them by the reins, and say, “I am not scared!”

It was the straightest face Sehun had ever seen and he laughed hysterically for a full two minutes, making Jongin pout in embarrassment.

“It’s not funny! I’m trying to be serious here, Sehun-ah!”

“I KNOW! THAT’S WHY I’M LAUGHING!” Sehun guffawed.

Jongin’s macho façade broke down within seconds and he started cracking up too!

“Ok, ok! Maybe it was a little funny, but I want you to listen to me!” he said, still chuckling.

“All right, fine! Finish, but this time, without all the dramatics!” Sehun responded, trying to compose himself.

They finally reached their destination, arriving in front of Sehun’s dormitory.

Jongin suddenly stopped laughing, cleared his throat and grabbed Sehun’s massive hands, entwining them and catching the boy completely off guard.

Flustered, Sehun stuttered, “W-What are you doing?”

“I’m taking fear by the reins…”

***

Now, here they were. Together. Sehun and Jongin. On a date.

Neither one of them could really believe the situation they had currently found themselves in. Sehun’s throat was unbelievably dry. The past few days had been nothing less than stressful. In fact, this has been the most stressed he had ever felt in his entire life. On a scale between “worried” and “stressed -the out”, Sehun was definitely stressed the out.

Out of all the major events in his lifetime, which included college entrance exams, coming out to his parents, and even skydiving (Thanks to Jongin), he had never been more anxious than he was getting ready for this date. By no means was this his first date ever, but it was different this time.

It’s always different with Jongin.

The day started off horribly. Jongin told him he was taking him to one of the fanciest and most expensive restaurants in town. So, Sehun decided to make an appointment with his hairdresser to recolor his hair, but today the salon was extremely busy and things were happening so fast that one thing led to another and now Sehun’s hair was pink. He was mortified.

After his traumatizing trip to the hair salon, Sehun went to go pick up his suit from the dry cleaners, but when he went got back to his room to try it on, he found that his pants had shrunk, making him look like he had two basketballs for a backside.

To top it all off, while cooking some ramyun to last him until dinner, Sehun forgot to put his oven mitt on and burned his hand, which left him with the ugliest scar he had ever seen in his life.

Sehun was so frustrated by the day’s events that he was almost tempted to cancel, but after groaning about how the universe was against him for thirty minutes (and a pep talk from Kyungsoo hyung), Sehun showered, applied a little eyeliner, put a beanie on to hide his hair, threw on a ridiculously sized cardigan to cover his protruding , and then slipped on a fingerless glove to hide his burn before leaving to meet Jongin.

Jongin was already there when Sehun arrived. The friends greeted each other with an awkward hug, which led to even more awkward glances.

Sehun didn’t know why he was so nervous. It was just Jongin, after all. They hung out all the time. He was trying so hard not to fidget in his seat, but he was baking in his sweater and beanie. He surely looked like a hot mess to Jongin and this day could not have been any worse.

At this moment in time, Sehun casually wished for death to save him from his unfortunate existence.

“You look great, Sehun-ah.”

Sehun snapped out of his trance and looked Jongin in the eye for the first time that night. He smiled.

“No, I don’t. But thanks - “

“I mean it, Sehun-ah! You look great. You always do…”Jongin cut him off.

Sehun took off his hat and showed off his vibrant pink hair. “Do I look great now?” he asked, shooting Jongin a pointed stare.

Jongin laughed. “Yes! I love pink. It’s my favorite color.”

“I though your favorite color was blue?”

“Well, now it’s pink,” Jongin said, reaching across the table to push Sehun’s hair out his face.

Sehun’s face became the same color as his hair. “Why, Kim Jongin, I guess you do know how to flatter a guy.”

“I try.”

The rest of their dinner went off without a hitch. They discussed the latest projects in the dance department, how things had been for the past forty-eight hours (considering that’s the longest they had ever gone without talking to each other) and, for a fancy place like that, the food was actually really good. To be honest, Sehun was still surprised that Jongin took him to such high end joint.

When they finished, Jongin told Sehun to go wait outside while he took care of the check.

Sehun was on cloud nine. Considering the way the day started out, the struggle was well worth it. He had so many bottled up feelings toward Jongin, so many things he’d been wanting to say since they met, and tonight was as good a night as any to make these confessions. Sehun was ready to take his fears by the reins too.

Sehun was harshly torn from his daze when he felt a hand seize his wrist and pull him down the street at what seemed like fifty miles per hour.

Everything happened so quickly; Sehun barely had time to blink, let alone assess the events unfolding around him. Jongin was pulling at him so hard it felt like his arm might come off and he heard loud cursing behind them as several waiters gave chase. He put two and two together pretty fast.

“REALLY, KIM JONGIN?!?!?”

***

They finally reached Jongin’s dorm, completely out of breath, the waiters they fled, far behind.

Jongin held the door open for his date, lips curved into a half-smile, but when he looked up at Sehun, he already knew what awaited him:

The meanest, most judgmental face the world had ever witnessed.

“At least you won’t be able to say our first date wasn’t a memorable one, huh, Sehun…ah?” Jongin laughed nervously.

Sehun sighed and rubbed the temples. “Jongin, why would you take me to a place you knew you couldn’t afford?” he calmly asked.

“I- I…don’t know. I guess I wanted to impress you. I also wanted to do something…date-worthy.”

“Taking your date to an expensive restaurant isn’t the only “date-worthy” option, Jongin-ah. You could have taken me to a place we haven’t been before, or to a movie and a less expensive restaurant! I swear to God, Jongin, do you ever think things through?”

Jongin frowned. “Well, pardon me, Oh Sehun, for trying to court you like I thought you ought to be courted! Excuse me for trying to make this night special!”

“Don’t give me that, Kim Jongin. We’ve known each other for two years now, and trust me, at this point, nothing you do could impress me. Besides, I never asked you to! You don’t have to impress me. You never have before and I don’t know why you are trying to do so now!”

“Well, it sure doesn’t seem like it sometimes, Sehun-ah! Sometimes I feel like all I am to you is your troublemaker friend who you only tolerate out of pity!”

“Shut up, Jongin!”

“What’s the matter? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“You know damn well it isn’t!”

“Pfft…whatever. I’ll walk you home because this was clearly a mistake.”

“SHUT UP, JONGIN!” Sehun practically screamed, pounding his injured hand on the railing and yelping in pain. “Goddamit!”

Jongin ran down the stairs, instantly concerned. “Oh my God, Sehun. Are you ok?”

“No, I screeched like that for no reason,” he sarcastically replied.

“Let me see,” Jongin demanded as he took Sehun’s glove off. He examined it and put on a frustrated face.

“You burned yourself and put a glove on without a bandage? And you tell me that I don’t think? Come on.”

He dragged the slightly taller male into the dormitory and straight to his room.

***

“Ow!” Sehun groaned as Jongin put ointment on his hand. 

“You’re such a baby,” Jongin laughed.

Sehun pouted. “Yeah, well, so are you!”

“Ok, we’re both babies then!”

The duo laughed as though their argument never happened.

Sehun sighed. “Look, Jongin, I don’t pity you, alright -“

“Sehun, stop. I’m sorry. I never should have -“

“Jongin, let me finish.” His friend nodded.

“I know I tease and complain a lot about your antics, but that doesn’t mean I think any less of you because of them. I just wish you would think things through. I don’t want to always have to bail you out of tough spots.”

Jongin continued to nod his head in agreement as he massaged Sehun’s hand.

“With that being said, I love your crazy antics, Jongin-ah.” He placed his hand on Jongin’s thigh for comfort.

“I love that you constantly push me out of my comfort zone and make me take chances! Without you, Jongin, I would have remained the guy in the back of the dance class who was never noticed, or the guy that was too afraid to go after what he wants, always letting someone else have their shot. You have helped me in so many ways and I am forever indebted to you, Jongin-ah. It’s for those reasons that I’ve… fallen so hard… for the golden-skinned dancer who told me I had a nice the first day we met.” Embarrassed by his confession, Sehun avoided Jongin’s eyes.

“It’s gotten nicer over the years, may I add.” Jongin winked.

“Shut up.” Sehun playfully shoved Jongin’s shoulder and the pair laughed until it faded into a silence that ended with them staring at one another, suspended.

…And Sehun was freaking out on the inside. ‘Maybe this was a mistake after all…’ But in the middle of his thought, Jongin brought his head down to his shoulder.

“You aren’t perfect, either, you know,” Jongin whispered, playing with Sehun’s hair. “You’re such a ing klutz, for one. Who burns themselves while making ramyun? If you aren’t tripping going up the stairs, you’re falling face-first into the dirt, or causing a traffic jam because you spilled your water bottle in the middle of the hallway, or my favorite -knocking down the cafeteria’s chocolate fountain because you couldn’t take your face out of your phone long enough to look where you were going “

Sehun groaned into Jongin’s button down. His face was pink again.

“Face it, Sehun-ah, if trouble follows me like a moth to a flame then accidents follow you like gravity makes the earth revolve around the sun,” Jongin teased.

The silence returned.

“I guess we’re both destined to get burned in the end,” Sehun said solemnly.

“That must be why they say that being in love is painful,” Jongin softly replied.

“Uh huh,” Sehun agreed.

Lying on Jongin’s bed, the moonlight shined through the window, allowing the boys to see one another’s face.

“It’s torture,” Jongin declared, drawing Sehun’s face closer to his.

“The worst kind,” Sehun concurred, staring directly into Jongin’s eyes.

“I’m really sorry...”

“Me too,” Sehun whispered as their lips met in a sweet kiss.

Maybe their existence was torturous, but at least they could endure it together.

A/N: Please comment and share with all your friends ok~ I'd love to know what you all think^^