chapter 6

Sehun only realises he’s been texting Baekhyun for two hours straight when he’s snapped out of his trance by the buzzing of his phone, indicating he’s received a message from someone else.

Jongin: Scored a date
Sehun: WHAT
Sehun: CALL ME

Baekhyun: Holy I have to pee so bad
Baekhyun: Holy pee*
Baekhyun: That’s better
Sehun: HOLD UP
Baekhyun: What

His phone doesn’t even have time to play his ringtone before Sehun picks up.

“With Kyungsoo?”

“Hi, I missed you too, Sehun.”

“Is it with Kyungsoo?”

“Yes, it’s with Kyungsoo—”

Sehun throws himself up off his bed and gasps as he falls off the edge and slams into the ground, and he hears Jongin yelling at him from a couple of metres away where his phone landed. Despite the fact that his nose is probably dislocated and he’s suffocating against his carpet, Sehun still manages to grin, and he picks himself up off the floor and grabs his phone.

“Sehun! Sehun, what was—!”

“I’m here, idiot. How the did you do it?”

Jongin grumbles about how he has no faith in him whatsoever and he’s perfectly capable of scoring himself a date, but Sehun is too enthralled to care. He stumbles out of his bedroom, out of house and waves over the nearest taxi while Jongin relays what happened through the phone.

By the time he’s finished talking, the taxi has pulled up outside Baekhyun’s, and Sehun tosses the driver a couple of notes before he gets out.

“I mean, it’s not really a date, we’re just meeting up as friends, but I thought you’d—”

“Jongin, that’s great at all, but I’ll call you back.”

“What? But you said—”

Sehun hangs up the phone and skips the elevator, bolting up the staircase to Baekhyun’s apartment. He pounds on the door and barrels in the moment it opens, and Baekhyun simply shuts it behind him and follows Sehun calmly.

“They’re going on a date,” Sehun exclaims, bounding onto the sofa and crossing his legs. Baekhyun’s eyes bulge, but only momentarily, and he straightens his face and sits beside his friend.

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. Jongin initiated it.”

Sehun begins to ramble and quotes Jongin’s story from top to bottom, and Baekhyun trundles off into the kitchen to bring them drinks. By the time Sehun is finished – with a couple of exaggerations and added details slipped in for dramatic effect – Baekhyun has his feet kicked up across Sehun’s lap, with a devilish smile on his face.

“Oh, the potential in this,” Baekhyun purrs, drumming his fingers together. “The things we could do. The things we could sabotage.”

“Hey,” Sehun snaps. “No sabotage. Focus on why we’re doing this.”

“Good sabotage,” Baekhyun implores excitedly, swinging his legs off the sofa and sliding up beside Sehun. “We could put a in his kitchen, dude.”

Sehun tries to look angry but he can’t help bursting out laughing, and Baekhyun grins in satisfaction.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, God, we have to do that. Not now. But we have to do that.”

“Why not now?”

Sehun shakes his head, still chuckling. “It’s too early for that. We’ll scare Jongin away.”

“You’re right. And Kyungsoo would stick his head in the sand from shame and never come back up. But we’ve got to plan something. Want more juice?”

“Do you have cheesecake?”

Baekhyun leans back and peers at Sehun questioningly.

“Why, no, I don’t. But if you’d have told me you were coming, I would have bought some.”

Sehun grabs his wrist and pulls him up from the sofa, walking Baekhyun out of his own apartment with an air of confidence that he probably shouldn’t have.

“Let’s talk over cake, then.”

Sehun doesn’t protest when Baekhyun slowly twists his wrist from his grip and replaces it with his hand, and even when a couple of people stare and make him feel awkward, he still doesn’t really want to pull away.

“I’m not gay,” he clarifies, waiting for Baekhyun to nod in acknowledgement before he begins swinging their arms back and forth in pace with their strides.

[] [] []

Jongin has to lean against the wall and catch his breath before he knocks on the door to Kyungsoo’s apartment. The papers in his trembling hand shake pathetically as he waits, and the mere seconds it takes for Kyungsoo to open the door stretch into minutes and hours in his mind.

“Hi,” Jongin says hoarsely. “I brought you a scholarship application form.”

Kyungsoo blinks in surprise, and laughs once he realises what Jongin is talking about, taking the files from him. “You came prepared. Come in. Thank you so much.”

Jongin steps inside and takes a moment to admire the tidy apartment as Kyungsoo shuts the door behind him. It’s small, much smaller than his own – he’s fortunate enough to have his parents support with his finances, yet Kyungsoo doesn’t seem so lucky – but it’s neat, and cosy, and warm. A reasonable reflection of Kyungsoo’s personality.

“The cheesecake is in the oven,” Kyungsoo says shyly. “I made two in case I messed one up. One of them is raspberry-chocolate and one of them is almond marzipan—oh! You’re not allergic to nuts, are you?”

“I don’t have food allergies,” Jongin says quickly, easing the look of panic on Kyungsoo’s face. “Don’t worry. They sound fantastic.”

“Come sit down. Do you want something to drink?”

“I—I’m okay—”

“I was making hot chocolate before.”

Jongin’s eyes light up and he fails at trying to hide how thrilled he is at the sound of hot chocolate. Kyungsoo smiles and disappears into the kitchen to bring him some, breathing out a sigh of relief – he remembered Jongin telling him that hot chocolate is his favourite drink, but was afraid pre-making a batch would make him seem obsessive and strange.

“What kind of science are you studying to require cheesecake tasting?” Kyungsoo jokes, placing a steaming mug in Jongin’s hands as he lowers himself onto his sofa. Jongin smiles sheepishly and traces the rim of his mug with his finger, embarrassed.

“It’s—I was just thinking about my friend. Because he loves cheesecake.”

“Ah. I’ll give you some slices extra so he can try some, if they turn out nicely.”

Jongin pictures the delighted smile on Sehun’s face when he’s presented with free cheesecake made by Kyungsoo himself, and he grins, thanking Kyungsoo immediately. Date or not, Jongin is already enjoying himself, and Sehun will be happy regardless of what happens between them.

[] [] []

Jongin appears at Sehun’s doorstep with a box in his hands and a smile on his face, and Sehun excuses himself for a moment before he invites Jongin to come inside. It’s the first time Sehun has ever hesitated before letting him in, and Jongin is taken aback, but he forgets about it the minute Sehun sits him down and demands information.

Jongin opens his mouth to speak, the box taken from his hands, when Sehun interrupts him with a gasp and stands up.

“Cheesecake! Jesus, did Kyungsoo make this?”

“Yeah, he—”

“Get me a fork.” Sehun sits down once more, staring into the box, his face alight with joy. “Jongin, go get me a fork.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Is this raspberry flavour?”

Ten minutes later Sehun is curled up on the sofa with an unbearable stomach ache, and Jongin finally manages to speak without Sehun’s moans of “this tastes so good”, “this is better than ” and “you have to marry this guy” interrupting him.

“It wasn’t even a date,” Jongin says, knowing Sehun’s expectations will exceed reality. “We just talked for a while. Mostly about university.”

“What about the other part? The not-university part?”

Jongin shrugs slowly, thinking back to his day spent with Kyungsoo, not realising a smile is blooming on his face as he recalls just how well they got along despite their previous awkward meetings.

“I don’t know…just stuff…”

“You totally talked about gay .”

“We didn’t,” Jongin says defensively. “We just talked. About everything. I told him about you, too. He’s—he’s really great to talk to.”

“Better than me?”

Jongin frowns. “Yes. Better than you.”

“Then go talk to him.”

Jongin’s eyes bulge, and he watches his best friend stand up, pulling him off the sofa and ushering him to the front door.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Go on. Surprise him. I’m sure he’ll want to see you. Call me later.”

“Sehun, I—”

Sehun slams the door on Jongin’s bewildered face and locks it, before sighing and motioning towards the barely ajar door leading to his bedroom. The door swings open, and Baekhyun storms out, arms crossed.

“You’re such a dickhead to him.”

“You’re such a dickhead in general,” Sehun argues, walking over and hooking his arm in Baekhyun’s, walking him back into the room so they can continue watching the movie they were halfway through.

“Touché. But at least I’d have the decency to leave a bite of cake behind, if I put you through the bull I just had to witness.”

“What bull?”

“The ten minutes of you eating cake and two minutes of the most woeful attempt at an interrogation I’ve ever seen.” Baekhyun lies himself across Sehun’s lap obnoxiously, arms and legs spread like a starfish, and he points to the laptop screen demandingly. “Movie.”

Sehun sighs, unpausing the film obediently. His fingers find their way into Baekhyun’s soft hair and he begins to massage his friend’s scalp, just to give his hands something to do, and Baekhyun grins and looks up at him when the movie stops to buffer.

“You’re a little gay. Admit it.”

“I’m not. I’m just bored. And your hair is soft.”

Baekhyun shakes his head in disbelief and shuts his eyes, enjoying the sensation more than what’s on the screen, and Sehun pretends what they’re doing isn’t at all suspiciously affectionate. He starts feeling uncomfortable when Baekhyun falls asleep and he feels obliged to tuck him into his bed – but hey, that’s what friends are for, right?

✏ ( a/n ] "can i use this as my related text" -me, two minutes ago, realising i have an english exam in a week and i havent memorised any quotes but i can recite this stupid ing fanfic off by heart

word count: 1670