A key turned in the doorknob, clicking it unlock and the door swung in from outside. Khun stood pocketing the key on the other side, a maroon backpack strap slung heavily from his shoulder; the first two buttons of his neat, dark blue dress shirt were left ed and both sleeves rolled up to elbow length, thanks to the heat of the late afternoon. Khun slipped his shoes off and walked into the blissful air-conditioned living area of his dorm, where Taecyeon lay asleep on the sole couch – or more precisely, on Minjun’s lap, who was reading a thick book on the study of business.

“Hi, Khunnie,” Minjun’s greeted quietly, but cheerful as usual.

“Hey, hyung. Classes are done?” Khun responded with a smile.

“Mine are done. Taecyeonnie still has another hour at four,” Minjun informed.

“Oh,” Khun replied as his hand halted on the door handle to his own room, slight disappointment in his voice, “I was hoping I could get some ice-cream in a while with you two, since it’s burning hot outside.” Khun pouted.

“I’ll go with you,” Minjun grinned. “I’m dying for a treat here.”

“What about Taec?”

“It’s okay, he won’t mind. I’ll treat him next time,” Minjun laughed.

“Well, if you say so,” Khun answered, entering his room, but not forgetting to add, “You better wake Taec up now. It’s fifteen minutes to four already.” Khun lightly dumped his bag on the floor by his desk and stepped over to his closet, fishing out a clean navy blue t-shirt and white short pants. Grabbing his towel on the way, he left for the bathroom to take a quick shower to escape the heat.

“Taecyeonnie, wake up,” Minjun said, messing up Taecyeon’s short hair. “C’mon, you have class to go to.”

Taecyeon sat up with a grunt.

“Go wash your face, big guy,” Minjun added as he made Taecyeon stand up and then pushed him towards the other, unoccupied, bathroom with his feet.

“Thanks for the lovely wakeup call,” Taecyeon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Minjun.

Minjun handed him his spectacles at the doorway of the bathroom, telling him, “I’m going out with Khunnie later.”

“Okay,” Taecyeon answered as he put on his glasses. He then placed a soft kiss on Minjun’s forehead before going to his room to fetch his bag.

“Take care,” Taecyeon told him on his way out, to which Minjun answered with a “You too,” before shutting the door.

***

“How long have you two been together?” Khun asked casually as they slowly made their way to Snow Spoon.

“A little over a year,” Minjun answered him, smiling to himself as he reminisced the times spent with Taecyeon way back in LA.

“Aww, someone’s in cloud nine~” Khun , nudging his ribs playfully.

Minjun blushed a little, but he quickly countered with a “Do you have anyone you like?” which made Khun stop abruptly.

“Well…” Khun rubbed the nape of his neck, looking away from Minjun.

“Bingo,” Minjun chuckled, bouncing up and down like a kid. “What kind of person is she?”

“He,” Khun corrected him. “He’s a junior, so we rarely even meet. Sadly. All I could do is watch him from afar. He’s really cute, hyung. He has these irresistible chubby cheeks and he always makes me want to protect him. And his lips…” Khun trailed off, embarrassed.

Minjun wrapped his arm around Khun’s shoulders, smirking, “His lips? Aigo, Khun-ah.”

Once again, Khun looked away, trying to keep his cool but to no avail as a tint of blush crept onto his cheeks. Changing the subject, he stammered, “We’re here,” opening the glass door to Snow Spoon.

The shop was having a manageable crowd, mostly the students from their college. Khun and Minjun stood in the queue of around seven people.

“Hey, Khunnie, you didn’t tell me there’s a piano in this place,” Minjun said, causing Khun to turn around to where the former was pointing.

Khun had not been to this ice-cream parlor for the past weeks so he was rather taken aback by the grand piano that stood in the inner right corner of the shop. Other than the smoothly polished, blindingly white piano, everything else in the shop remained the same; from the single stretch of marble bar top and chairs to the left of the entrance, to the numerous small couches and coffee tables that lined the right side of the store, then to the several round white tables with four chairs around them scattered across the remaining space, and lastly, to the calm, relaxing atmosphere, where customers can have peace. The piano was situated on a raised wooden platform, two stair steps from level ground. The front of the platform, or stage, was fenced to the middle, where the stairs were. The walls at the back, the wooden fence, floor and stair steps were all painted milky white, matching the grand piano perfectly, giving it a professional stage feeling under the abundant beams of light.

“You play?” Minjun asked him when he saw Khun gazing at the instrument.

“Well, I can’t say I don’t, but I haven’t done it since high school,” Khun replied with a shrug.

“I wanna play it later,” Minjun said, doing light skips eagerly.

“Sure, I think it’s open for anyone to play. But let me get my ice-cream first,” Khun chuckled at his liveliness.

They waited for about five minutes before their turn arrived. Khun got himself a cup of strawberry and vanilla combination topped with strawberry slices and rainbow sprinkles, whereas Minjun made a chocolate cup: two scoops of chocolate ice-cream, six white chocolate Pepero sticks sticking out in all directions, chocolate rice sprinkles and chocolate chips. He was very satisfied with his creation in the end, grinning gleefully.

After paying for their treats, they turned towards one of the tables in front of the grand piano. However, Khun had only taken a few steps and something – or rather, someone – caught his eyes, making him stop mid-stride, almost tripping.

Noticing the sudden halt of his friend, Minjun pried his eyes off his alluring ice-cream and glanced at him. “Are you okay?”

“He’s there,” Khun told him, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Who?” slipped out of Minjun’s lips as he turned to the direction of Khun’s line of view.

- To be continued -