Jeonghan and Jisoo walk out of 10:04 after a quick goodbye to the staff, who directed knowing smiles in Jeonghan’s direction. They walk out the door to a cold breeze and Jeonghan shivers in his simple t-shirt.

“Are you okay? Do you need this?” Jisoo asks, motioning to his jacket.

Jeonghan is speechless, surely Jisoo didn’t offer him his jacket like this was a normal cliché date?

“I mean, you paid for my meal? I feel bad that’s all,” Jisoo continues, his ears turning slightly red.  

Jeonghan’s excitement deflates. Jisoo was just being the same gentlemen he seems to be around everyone; however, Jeonghan still couldn't get rid of the flicker of hope burning deep inside.  

“No, it’s fine,” Jeonghan nervously laughs, waving him off.

But it wasn’t fine. Jeonghan’s head was pounding as he was trying to pluck up the courage to ask Jisoo. He knows its better for the boy to hear it from him and not the staff at 10:04 and he knows that everyone thinks Jisoo likes him back and he knows that the worst that can happen is he’ll say no.

But that’s the thing; he could say no. And while Jeonghan is sure he’d eventually get over it, he also knows that they wouldn’t be able to continue a normal friendship after that. It would be too awkward, and Jeonghan would be too scared to ever show his face again. And he knows that just being Jisoo’s friend is better than being nothing.

The time it takes them to walk the couple of streets to Pledis, Jeonghan has changed his mind so many times. One minute, he’s certain that he will ask Jisoo out any second; the next minute, certain that he will ask Jisoo out eventually but maybe tonight just isn’t the night.

But despite the fact that Jeonghan’s brain won’t give him a rest, the two boys walk in silence. Jeonghan was surprised to find however, that it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was the kind of silence that comes from years of friendship, when you are finally completely comfortable with someone. But Jeonghan isn't quite sure how this is possible when they’ve only know each other for a week or two. 

By the time they turn onto the street that Pledis is located on, Jeonghan has finally decided. He has to do it now. Otherwise he won’t. And if it turns really out embarrassing he can quickly escape by saying he needs to visit the corner store or something as he can’t really run once they’re inside the building.

Jeonghan slows his pace, “Jisoo…”

Jisoo looks back confused but also slows, stopping to face Jeonghan; their bodies close enough that Jeonghan is taken aback.

“Uh…” Jeonghan’s mind is a mess, his thoughts running rampant as he tries to think of the perfect words.

“Yes?” Jisoo asks, his voice soft and his head ever so slightly tilted in confusion.

“I was wanting to…ask you…ask you if…but I mean only if…um…” Jeonghan’s eyes were firmly fixed to the ground as his cheeks flush and he trails off.

He mentally curses himself, Jeonghan couldn’t believe that anyone had ever been as awkward as him in this current moment.

Jeonghan finally lifts his gaze to see that Jisoo is still looking at him with wide eyes; his lips quirked in a small smile.

Jeonghan can’t help but notice that they’re standing close enough that in one small movement they could be kissing, but Jeonghan tries to push that thought from his mind as it’s not doing a very good job of calming him down. 

Jeonghan takes a deep breath and starts again, “I was wondering if sometime you’d li-”

Crash!

“! !”

The boys jump apart and turn towards the noise that had startled them. Jeonghan sees that the cause of the sound seems to be the pink haired boy from 112, who had just dropped an item he was unloading from a delivery truck, and was now spewing out a creative stream of swear words.

“Oh, is that an amp?!” Jisoo exclaims in dismay, immediately running to help the boy with Jeonghan on his heels.

Jeonghan feels sorry for the boy but he also can’t help but curse his bad timing; just when he was about to ask Jisoo out on a date (in a way that was actually half coherent) this pink haired boy’s clumsiness had to go and ruin the moment.

“Is it okay?!” Jisoo asks as he helps the boy pick up the amp from the floor.

The pink haired boy quickly looks it over, “Damn, it has a couple of bashes but hopefully it still works.”

“But wow, is that a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe?!” Jisoo asks in astonishment; not that Jeonghan had any idea what he was so amazed about.

“Yeah. You know music?” The pink haired boy asks, looking impressed.

Jisoo suddenly looks embarrassed, “A little…”

The boy nods his head approvingly.

“Is there more in the truck? We can help you carry stuff up if you want? Right, Jeonghan?”

Jeonghan snaps back to attention, “Oh, yeah right.”

He can’t help but hear how unimpressed he sounds. Jeonghan isn’t quite sure why he suddenly feels so disgruntled towards the boy, but maybe it has something to do with the way that he's now talking adamantly to Jisoo about music.

Jeonghan carries a speaker as he trails behind the two other boys, trying to find a place to join the conversation. He couldn’t help but notice that Jisoo hadn’t even looked back to see if he was following.

“I’m Hong Jisoo by the way. I live in 116.”

“Oh cool, we live on the same floor, I’m in 112. I’m Lee Jihoon,” the pink haired boy says with a smile.

“I’m Yoon Jeonghan, I live in 118,” Jeonghan adds, “also I’m curious, does your job involve music? It’s just that I constantly hear music from your apartment?” 

Jeonghan quietly sighs to himself. Way to smoothly join the conversation Jeonghan, he thinks to himself; embarrassed at his poor effort. 

“I’m a producer,” Jihoon explains.

“Wow,” Jeonghan says, hating that this boy had such an impressive job.

“I can show you how my studio is set up if you want?” Jihoon says, turning back to Jisoo.

Jeonghan freezes. It sounds like an innocent enough invitation but Jeonghan can’t help but worry; this pink haired boy is good looking, seems much smoother at conversation than Jeonghan and shares the same passion for music as Jisoo.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Jisoo kindly rejects the boy’s offer and Jeonghan can’t help but perk up to only be immediately disappointed when Jisoo finishes with a, “but maybe another time!”

“Yeah, feel free to drop by whenever,” Jihoon says, waving goodbye as he lets himself into his apartment.

Then, it’s just Jeonghan and Jisoo left in the hall.

Jisoo turns to Jeonghan with a smile; it painted clear on his face that he had no idea what was running through Jeonghan’s mind.

“He’s nice, hey? We should ask him to hang out with all of us one time.”

Jeonghan can only answer with a tight smile and a forced nod.

“Anyway…what were you going to say before all that happened?” Jisoo says with a slight laugh.

Jeonghan knows he could just ask now. Hey Jisoo, would you like to go on a date sometime? It’s not hard, a sentence, Jeonghan could do it. But he remembers Jisoo’s wide smile talking to Jihoon and all his courage deflates. If he wasn’t sure about Jisoo saying yes before, now he’s even less sure.

Jeonghan forces out a laugh, “No, no. It’s nothing; don’t worry.”

Jisoo’s smile drops a little.

“Are you sure? I mean…I thought..well I thought you were going to…” Jisoo kind of stops, his face flushing and his hands fidgeting.

 “I mean, it seemed important?” he finally gets out.

“Oh? No, really it was stupid…I…I’ve got to go,” Jeonghan panics, turning away from Jisoo before even looking at the boy’s reaction.

Jeonghan’s hands are slightly shaking as he tries to hastily open his door. He finally gets it unlocked and bowls inside, immediately locking the door behind him.

Jeonghan finds this scene all too familiar. Once again, Jeonghan rests his head against his apartment door after fleeing from 116’s doorway; embarrassed and ashamed but this time…also a little jealous?

Hmm...I'm expecting some angry comments from this chapter lmao. I was writing and this just kind of happened and I ran with it, but I suppose here's a little drama for you all :) 
I know some of you liked the length of the last chapter but I just find good places to cut chapters and they never end up being that long so forgive me !! (But from now on you shouldn't be getting any really really short chapters, like the ones I've done a couple of times)