The box in Minseok’s hands became heavier the longer he stared at the red lights flickering before his eyes --numbers, departures, arrivals. He felt his chest constricting with the thought that he did not make it on time.

He clutched the edges of the carton, knuckles turning white, feet losing balance, and he felt himself staggering until the back of his shins came in contact with something cold.

Maybe, this was really a bad idea.

Maybe, he was not supposed to be here in the first place.

This was worse than what he was feeling about an hour ago, when he was just rolling aimlessly on his bed, looking at the ceiling, anywhere in the four corners of his apartment, trying to sort out his feelings.

He thought he was getting by fine and was actually dealing with his issues --until Baekhyun came barging into his room, hands full with box and plastic bag.

“We have not seen you for three days.” Baekhyun started, walking straight to where Minseok’s bed was, propping himself shamelessly. Minseok didn't really mind though; Baekhyun was the only person who could intrude Minseok’s personal space, or that was what Minseok wanted to think, because not so long ago there was another weight on his crumpled sheets, a silhouette peppering butterfly breaths on his nape, and a hand caressing his skin.

“That’s the objective.” Minseok said, lying next to Baekhyun in a bed too narrow for their twenty year old bodies. “If I was not so intrigued about the plastic bag I would have kicked you out right away.”

“For ’s sake Minseok, I’ve been your friend since we were in our mothers’ wombs.” Baekhyun set the plastic bags on his stomach and pulled out blueberry yogurt popsicles, handing one to Minseok. “Of course, I have your weaknesses up my sleeves.”

“Well, aren’t you an opportunist?” There was no venom in Minseok’s words and he appreciated his friend’s gesture. They were more or less used to each other’s .

“I just treat my friends well, not like some people.” Baekhyun lightly jabbed Minseok’s ribs, both of them chuckling, but one sounding hollow. “Did something happen after our night out?”

Minseok almost choked on the popsicle he was eating. He immediately sat up and coughed out the stuff stuck in his throat. “Nothing. You guys were dead drunk, remember?”

“I’m your best friend and I understand how you shut people sometimes, even me. I understand that. I seldom ask, Minseok.” Baekhyun said, handing the box he was holding earlier to Minseok. “I know you’re not stupid, but how long do want to keep acting like a ? It’s getting painful to watch. Is this about Luhan?”

Minseok tried not to roll his eyes at his friend’s statement, but he still did and let out an exasperated grunt. “What about Luhan?”

“Yeah, what about Luhan? Who gives a about Luhan? Probably not you.” Baekhyun said nonchalantly, taking off the lid of the box himself. “Saw this while cleaning my room earlier.”

“Didn’t know you can clean.” Minseok laid his eyes on a picture of him and… Luhan, with surprise painted of their faces. The first time they met, about four years ago --Minseok was suddenly unpacking box after box of memories from the corner of his brain, going through them again, not knowing what he had been missing all along.

It was one of those parties where everyone was invited; nonetheless, Minseok was really not a fan of those. Baekhyun had dragged him there, but he can’t remember what made him succumb. Maybe it was because of a bet he had lost before, or just the usual Baekhyun with this tricks.

The house was fancy, a little too fancy for it to be used for such parties. Luckily, Minseok found a vacant couch quite far from the fuss of the entire night, but not far enough to be completely isolated. He couldn’t remember where Baekhyun went off, probably somewhere with his stupid camera, capturing moments and people off guard.

Minseok was having his time being all comfortable, until he suddenly needed to stop breathing after the unexpected whiff of something, he knew it was roses --concentrated perfume, it smelled like his mom’s-- causing him a headache. He braced himself, actually thinking of getting off the comfortable chair and all in all avoiding a possible conversation with a stranger, but instead, the new comer passed by him, stopped just in front of the other end of the couch, and started running one of his palms against the wooden armrest.

“A lovely couch isn’t it?” It was the night Minseok met Luhan. He learned that they were both in Arts and Design; Minseok was in digital and Luhan was in furniture and woodcrafting. Their conversations ran smoothly when they started talking about music and the things they love to do on their spare time.

“I’m glad you found him. The TVXQ, I can tolerate.” Baekhyun let out an exasperated sigh. “But do you know how happy I am that you don’t have to point out how much I’m missing on bitter water and kicking balls?”

“They are called coffee and soccer.” Minseok could not help but smile at the memory. “I swear to God, Baek, it was weird. I mean, if only you had seen his eyes, all sparkly while talking about the couch.” And that was, the first time Minseok had seen Luhan’s eyes, sparkling, alive --and unknowingly, they started making a home in Minseok’s heart and mind. “He also had this fond smile, like the one you use when you see your dog. Weirdo.”

“The person’s into furniture and woodcrafting.” Baekhyun peeked at the photo. “Your face was all red when I suddenly showed up and snapped that. Or were you so lost about the couch or so lost in his eyes?”

“Or maybe I was holding my breath because of his awful perfume. You know how sensitive my sinuses are.” Minseok flipped through another photo. He looked at Baekhyun who was suddenly smiling from ear to ear. “When did you--”

“It’s a nice shot. Didn’t want it to go to waste.” Baekhyun said. It really was a nice shot of him and Luhan, Minseok thought. Even though it was just their silhouettes against the pink and orange of dusk, Minseok could recognize it was really them.

Baekhyun just dragged him to an impromptu get away from all the second year finals fiasco. Luhan was already sitting in the driver’s seat of the car as Baekhyun introduced two more people cramped up with him in the backseat. “This is Yeol. Chanyeol. And the third sardine is Dae. Jongdae.”

Minseok never asked how his friend got to know people who were not even in their department, Baekhyun had always been that good with making friends.

“What are we doing?” Minseok asked as he secured himself in the passenger’s seat.

“Running away from responsibilities, of course, I didn’t steal my sister’s car for nothing.”

Baekhyun stated, pointing his camera at Minseok, who lightly tapped the side of the lens to prevent it from being slapped right to his face. “Smile.”

Baekhyun was on his typical ramble --he could go on for days, not like Minseok was complaining, but Baekhyun plus Chanyeol and Jongdae was just too much. They were not even able to keep their asses connected to the seat. Minseok and Luhan remained fairly silent, occasionally smiling and laughing at jokes thrown.

After thirty minutes of pure chaos, they finally reached their destination. A park at the heart of the city. Given that it was almost night time, the park was quite deserted, save for a few joggers rounding the place.

“I’ll drag Yeol and Jongdae with me.” Baekhyun said, handing Minseok a backpack. “You go walk up there with Luhan, and we’ll meet you after a few minutes. I’ll just buy food.”

“Why didn’t you just ask Luhan to stop the car earlier?” Minseok was about to take the bag but Luhan beat him to it, clasped their hands together and started walking up the hill. “Are you gonna buy a food truck? Why do all of you need to go?”

“Do you hate being alone with me that much?” Luhan asked as they walked towards where the designated spot was.

Not like Minseok hated being with Luhan, he loved being with Luhan. They had a lot of common interests to talk about, but sometimes there were moments where his heart would pound in his chest whenever Luhan talked or smiled or even looked at him, and the pounding would turn to loud deafening thuds, and he would find himself lost and disconnected from the world. “I didn’t say anything like that.”

“I think here is good.” Luhan said, letting go of Minseok’s hand and opening the backpack to set up the blanket.

Minseok did not understand it well, but there was heaviness budding in his chest the moment his hand fell right back to his side. His fingers were trying to remember the warmth wrapped around them just a moment ago.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

This was what Minseok was talking about; him turning into a complete idiot whenever Luhan was around. He opted to sit on the other end of the blanket, a comfortable number of feet away from Luhan.

“How are your finals going?” There was hesitance in Luhan’s voice; it was not hard to miss.

“You’re really terrible at this. Starting conversations.” Minseok said, his lips’ ends timidly curling upward. “I thought we’re supposed to be running away from all that?”

“My bad.” Luhan chuckled and shifted a little so his body was now facing Minseok. “I like your pants.”

Minseok looked down at his legs, barely remembering what he was wearing, and to his amusement he was still wearing his pajamas from last night… well he had not gotten a decent sleep and the plates he needed to attend to were really demanding. “Finals.” He finally looked back at Luhan and he couldn’t help but directly set his gaze at Luhan’s eyes, for they reflected the faint colors of the setting sun beautifully.

He was taken out of his daze when Luhan spoke. “I thought we are not supposed to be talking about that?”

“Whatever. Baekhyun didn’t give me time to change” Minseok intended to call up Baekhyun when he belatedly realized that he left his mobile phone too. He let out a resigned sigh and fell on his back on the blanket. “Idiot.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be back soon.” He heard Luhan say before he covered his eyes with his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” Minseok kept his eyes covered. He was curious as to what Luhan was being apologetic for, but it was too awkward to let their eyes meet. Luhan was taking too long to answer, as if the silence was coaxing Minseok to look at what was happening.

“I don’t know. Making you uncomfortable, I guess?” Luhan said after a while. Minseok heard Baekhyun’s obnoxious laughter, along with Chanyeol and Jongdae’s from not so far away.

“It is not so bad.” Minseok finally said before getting off the blanket to see that the three were already making their way up to the hill.

They continued like nothing happened. Minseok caught Luhan looking and smiling at him at least more than a couple of times, and Minseok found himself turning away even before he could mirror the action. They did not talk again that night save for the occasional banter among the group that they had.

“It wasn’t actually my plan, you know.” Baekhyun said, taking away the photo from Minseok’s hands and exposing the next. “Luhan was behind that impromptu picnic. Said you needed to come out of your cave.”

“Wow. Here I am thinking you’ve been a wonderful friend.” Minseok snickered, shuffling through the pictures of Baekhyun with Jongdae and Chanyeol. “I forgot, you’re very awful. You even left me next to a tent to rot.”

“Why do you always wound my heart? Here I am sharing your misery, and now you’re telling me I’m a horrible friend?” Baekhyun lightly tugged at the popsicle hanging between Minseok’s lips. “Puke it out. I’m taking it back.”

Minseok resisted and just kept on looking at the series of pictures taken from when Baekhyun invited their circle to his grandmother’s house, but Baekhyun insisted that they should camp out since seeing the sky without the city pollutants would be nice.

Everyone was busy setting up the tent and organizing the cooking resources while Minseok busied himself with washing his feet and legs, covered in dust from walking quite a distance to reach where Baekhyun wanted the group to stay the night. It was a spot the Byun’s claimed for themselves whenever there was a family outing at the foot of the mountain.

All of a sudden Luhan screamed and tapped him on his shoulders, making him lose his balance on the rocks.

Minseok knew Luhan never meant to hurt him, but Minseok still ended up with a sprained ankle due to Luhan’s jumpscare. It was completely idiotic; Minseok was frantic as he remained seated on the slippery rocks with his and right ankle throbbing, and half of his body was completely soaked.

“You’re such an idiot! Don’t you realize how dangerous that was?” Baekhyun was on a roll on grilling Luhan as he aided Minseok’s foot, and although Minseok tried to assure his friend that he was not dying, Baekhyun still carried on. He looked up to Minseok with his brows still knitted together. “As for you, keep your seated or I’ll break your other leg!”

“Really, Baek. You guys could trek up a little.” Minseok tried to stand with his good foot and move a little. “See? I’ll live.”

“No way I’m leaving you here. I said keep your seated.”

“Don’t be a party pooper. At least, go let the other guys have their fun.” The two behind Baekhyun were shaking their heads and arms as if to say they were really okay with just staying. “No, guys. Really.”

“As if they could get back here alive on their own.” Baekhyun packed the first aid kit back into his bag. “The tent is all set up, we could just spend the night and leave early tomorrow. We can’t really hike up to the falls.”

“I’ll stay with Minseok. You guys could go hike up and be back before sunset.” Luhan said with apologies dripping from his voice. “It was my fault anyway. I’ll take responsibility.”

“Don’t do anything stupid again.” Baekhyun warned before he agreed on leaving Minseok in Luhan’s care. After a number of reminders to stay put and let Luhan do things if Minseok needed anything, the trio disappeared through the trees.

They fell silent after they were left alone. It was nothing uncommon; an imaginary stack of bricks immediately appeared between them at times like this. Luhan had been constantly trying to break down the nonexistent wall by asking Minseok if he was okay, and naturally, the bricks fell one by one.

“Is the bandage too tight?” Luhan asked for the uncountable time. “I could adjust it. Just tell me.”

“It’s okay.” Minseok made a stupid decision of trying to move his bad foot, then a jolting pain travelled through his leg, making him grunt. He immediately raised his hand before Luhan could even say anything. “I’m okay.”

“I’m really sorry for having you stuck here with me.”

“I know you didn’t mean to.” Minseok said, turning his gaze to the subtle flowing of the lake. “Unless you really intended to.”

“Yeah. I want you all to myself.” Minseok knew it was a joke, but he could not help but feel something weird in his chest. “Maybe I should break your other leg so you won’t be able to leave me.”

“Romantic.”

“I try to be. Look here.” Luhan had his phone out and the camera on, but Minseok could barely be seen on the screen, so he leaned and moved a little closer to Minseok. “I bet those guys already have hundreds of pictures by now.”

“Baekhyun should really just marry his camera. He spends more time with it now.“

“It’s okay. You have me. You can love me as much as Baekhyun loves his camera.”

This might be the only thing he hated about Luhan. Luhan had always been quite cheerful, always had a smile on his face that grew fonder whenever he talked about the things he loved. Minseok seldom saw Luhan without the twinkle in his eyes or the curling of his lips --they only happen if he did not have his coffee yet or if his favorite soccer team lost a match. Luhan loved teasing and poking fun of things just like Baekhyun, but unlike with Baekhyun, Minseok never knew when Luhan was being serious or when he was completely joking. It was a little frustrating sometimes.

Luhan took a couple of shots, with Minseok’s eye half closed in the second one and his bottom lip pouting. “Delete the second one, I looked stupid.” Minseok said.

“It’s okay. You’re cute.” Luhan immediately shoved his phone back to his pocket. “We can’t play soccer on Wednesdays now.”

“Nah. You anyway.”

“I just let you win every time.”

“Says the one who gets his in a twist whenever I score.”

“I didn’t know you’re that fond of looking at my underwear.” Luhan said, earning him a smack on the back of the head.

“Whatever.” They kept on bickering and talking about nothing and something at the same time until their friends came back earlier than Minseok had expected. No, Minseok was not entirely disappointed.

Jongdae was ahead of the two, running back to where the tent was.


“So did you two finally kiss?” Jongdae said, taking a seat next to Minseok. “I thought we’ve hiked up far enough.”

“Well, we’ve got ers for friends.” Luhan took Minseok’s hand and kissed his knuckle. Minseok could barely register what Luhan was saying; he just nodded but made no attempt of pulling his hand. Luhan was not as touchy as this when they were alone, but Minseok noticed that Luhan liked crossing his personal space otherwise.

“That is not as bad as being the fifth wheel.” Jongdae theatrically sighed, wriggling his body as he hugged himself. “I should have brought a stuffed toy with me.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol finally caught up and enclosed Jongdae in a hug. “We can be three wheels behind 2 wheels.” Baekhyun said.

“What kind of a flawed vehicle does that make us?” Jongdae asked, trying to free himself from all the limbs wrapped around him.

“Whatever. As long as these two love birds are happy.” Baekhyun said while throwing Minseok and Luhan a mischievous smile. “How’s your foot?”

“Significantly better than your face obviously.” Minseok retorted.

Baekhyun scoffed. “Well, let’s see how good your feet are on our way back. But I’m sure Luhan wouldn’t let you down.”

“I love you. But there’s no way I’m piggybacking you all the way back to the car tomorrow.” Luhan said, his words contradicting his fingers still tangled with Minseok’s.

Minseok knew Luhan did not mean those first three words. He knew they bear no weight, for Luhan always tagged them with his jokes. It was unsettling, but Minseok did not really have a reason to take things seriously. “But do I even want you to?” Minseok deadpanned and removed his hand from Luhan’s hold.

“You still ended up like a monkey behind him, though.” Baekhyun helped himself with another popsicle. “And don’t forget, I carried you too.”

“You carried me for like ten steps.”

“Fifteen.”

“Okay. Fifteen.”



The next pictures were more recent, taken just last week. Probably during Minseok’s turning point.

They all knew they should not have drank more than what they could handle, and Minseok got the confirmation that he was the only sane individual in their group. Baekhyun was supposed to be driving, but he was completely knocked out at the shotgun seat just like Luhan, Jongdae, and Chanyeol at the back. And since Minseok’s apartment was the nearest from where they had been, he made a decision to just let everyone sleep in his place.

What an easy and brilliant idea, Minseok thought, until he was dragging his friends one by one up to his unit. This was probably the first time Minseok appreciated his room being on the second floor of the building. On most days, he would curse the sound of the street. Minseok truly hated his friends sometimes, but he was still kind enough to bring out his extra futon and laid it on his narrow floor. He wasn’t really sure how four of his friends would comfortably fit, but he figured they were too hammered to even care anyway.

Minseok was too tired to change out of his clothes or clean himself, which he usually did before going to sleep. His head was beginning to get heavy along with his eyelids, so he collapsed on his bed, his back to where his friends were, and waited for sleep to take him. He could hear grunts and rustlings, and a while later there was more weight on his bed. “Move a little.” He heard Luhan garble. Minseok was not really sure if it was the alcohol or he was just too sleepy to argue, so he heeded to Luhan’s request and moved closer to the wall. Among the things that Minseok was expecting at the end of the night, Luhan’s breathing behind his neck and a hand resting on his stomach were not in the list. Minseok tried to free himself from Luhan with as little movement as he could, but Luhan decided to pin Minseok down with his leg.

“Luhan.” Minseok whisper shouted, testing if Luhan was awake and aware of what he was doing. Luhan did not seem to hear anything and proceeded on burying his nose to Minseok’s nape. Luhan’s lips ghosted on Minseok’s skin, making the latter shiver at the contact.

“Luhan.” Minseok tried again; this time getting a low hum in response, which he found oddly satisfying and comforting. “Goodnight, Luhan.” When he got no answer after that, he had decided that Luhan had finally fallen into sleep and that he should do the same --but just when he was about to, Luhan kissed the skin behind his ear.

Minseok’s sleepiness suddenly walked out of the door; that night he lied awake praying for his heart to give him a rest.

Seeing his irresponsible friend throwing up and being sluggish was one of the most satisfying morning Minseok ever had. Baekhyun kept on whining how bad the pulsing in his head was as he went straight to Minseok’s bed instead of the futon where the others were still dozing the day away.

It was all fun and games for him until he remembered where Luhan was before he fell asleep. He remembered them tangled on his bed, but Luhan was currently snoring beside Jongdae. Minseok let it go, there was no point in making a fuss out of it. Who really knew? Maybe he fell off the bed, but it was unlikely since there was Jongdae between Luhan and the bed.

Minseok did not want to admit it, but he wished that Luhan would somehow own up to it. Well, maybe… it was just the alcohol.

“Minseokkie~ Baekkie wants pancakes.” Baekhyun was nudging Minseok with his foot while he kept on mumbling about pancakes.

“It’s already eleven-thirty, Baekhyun.” Minseok answered, sliding off the bed and sitting before Jongdae’s feet. “Stop doing that. You’re disgusting.”

“There’s a diner serving breakfast all day near our uni.” Baekhyun still found a way to bother Minseok with his feet. “Something. Kyung-something.”

“They don’t serve breakfast after ten.”

“There’s nothing friendships and connections can’t fix.”

Minseok got a hold of one of his pillows and threw it straight at Baekhyun’s face. “Tell me that when you already got rid of your ugly face through friendship.” He started waking up the others.

Baekhyun really had his way with things. At past twelve o’ clock, every one seemed to have their spirits back as they happily waited for their pancakes, except Minseok.

Luhan did not seem to have a knowledge of what he did. He never mentioned it. Nobody mentioned it, making it known only to Minseok, and as the minutes stretched, his annoyance with everything started to shut himself off.

Baekhyun would always be the first one to notice. He kept on sending Minseok those looks with his eyebrows raised which they had developed through the years that they were together to ask if the other was okay. Minseok would seldom roll his eyes at Baekhyun, and he would rarely tell his best friend to off and actually mean it.

Baekhyun immediately turned the conversations away from Minseok, even though Luhan had tried his usual flirty jokes.

“You know right after you left, he was done with the phone call.” It felt like Minseok’s heart dropped to his stomach at the seriousness of Baekhyun’s tone. “He was quite excited to tell you he was leaving for Paris today.

Most of the time, Baekhyun knew things that concern Minseok before Minseok even know them himself. It .



Love was not something you consciously build; before you even know it, it’s right there in front of you.

Minseok stopped on his toes as he was exiting Baekhyun’s kitchen, nachos stuck mid air between his fingers while his heart dropped to his feet.

“I thought you are in Paris.” Minseok finally croaked out. He can hear Baekhyun’s camera lenses at their business again. He whipped his head to where his friend, who was contradicting scowl on Minseok’s face, was.

Baekhyun’s face fell as soon as he realized that Minseok was not really up for the trick that he and Luhan pulled. “Minseok--”

“Oh God, Baek. You made me look all stupid and in the airport.”

Minseok suddenly lost his appetite, not just on the nachos, but on the whole ordeal of what was happening. He looked at Jongdae and Chanyeol who put the game they were playing on pause and were also wearing confusion on their faces. “Do you guys know too?”

The two bobbed their heads and it was totally enough to make Minseok lose all the cool he had and control over his voice and words. “Oh. Well… Surprise to me.” He turned back to Luhan, and he couldn’t really understand the reaction he was seeing on Luhan’s face.

Just like the feelings bubbling in his chest, he could not really understand them.

It was so easy not to deal with things, to pretend that they were not real, and that whatever feelings he was harboring meant nothing. It was all so easy when Minseok did not need to think about all of this, to just go with the flow, and not take things seriously.

But here Luhan was, suddenly appearing again right when Minseok was in the process of getting over his heart and head, right at when his skin was wearing thin.

“Minseok.” Baekhyun called out in a tone quite foreign to Minseok. It was the second time he heard Baekhyun used it, the first one was when he apologized for accidentally killing their shared pet goldfish when they were eight. “Get it over with.”

“I left something in the kitchen.” He immediately retreated back to where he came from, setting the bowl on the counter. He tried taking deep breaths to calm his heart and clear his head. There was no point in running, it only messed his head.

He heard a ‘Get the over there.’ and ‘I wouldn’t get beaten up for nothing.’, and he knew who Baekhyun was talking to. He opened one of the cupboards, as if he was looking for his courage hiding in there somewhere.

He could finally see Luhan from his peripheral, getting closer and closer. The building tension was like a monster coaxing Minseok to come out of his hiding place and square up.

Minseok was squeezing his eyes shut as the words tumbled out of his lips. “I know that you’re just joke flirting with me, and sometimes they were too much. Your jokes are too much. Okay. Just do me a favor and let me settle my feelings.”

Minseok heard Luhan chuckled, a hand touching one of his arm. “Minseok, look at me. Please.”

“Go away. I’m not ready to deal with you yet. I was, but not now.” Minseok said and he knew it meant nothing since Luhan’s hand just tightened around his arm. “Byun Baekhyun! I’m going to ing kill you once I step out of your ing kitchen.”

“Okay! Just don’t die drowning in your feelings first!” Baekhyun shouted back.

“I just attended a conference in Paris, my favorite woodcrafter went.” Luhan explained, before letting go of Minseok’s arm for his face. “I didn’t tell you because I figured you wouldn’t want to talk to me and that I was sure I’ll be back after five days.” Minseok could feel his face being squished and it was getting uncomfortable. “I’ve got things to tell you too, and I want you looking at me when I do.”

“See, this is what I mean by the joke flirting. Stop it.” Minseok pushed Luhan’s hands away and finally looked at Luhan again for the second time that night. Luhan still had the glimmer in his eyes, the same one he had when he talked about soccer and coffee and probably this was how Minseok always saw Luhan’s eyes.

“But I have been actually flirting with you, idiot.”

“But you’re always joking about it with those ers.”

“Okay. Maybe I was quite scared to properly flirt.” Luhan fidgets, shoving both his hands in his jean pockets and rocking himself. “I mean do you even know how nervous I am when I am alone with you.”

“How should I know?” Minseok rolled his eyes, but he was biting his lip to avoid from smiling too much. “You’re so confusing.”

“Okay, but now you know.” Luhan said, wiping his hands on his jeans before holding both of Minseok’s hands. “I’m also nervous now.”

“Are you sure you’re sober?” Because clearly, Minseok did not want a rerun of things. He did not need more steps back.

“I’m sorry about that time I crashed in your bed.” Luhan squeezed his hands. It was not the first time they held hands, but this time it was different. It felt comforting and reassuring, and Minseok liked the feel of it. “I knew what I did. I was going to talk to you about it but when I came back all that’s left were your untouched pancakes. Then you wouldn’t talk to me after that anymore.”

“I’m sorry. Okay. But I was upset.” Minseok said. “So…”

“Oh God. You’re both terrible at this. I’m sorry, but.” Baekhyun came stomping in the kitchen, his camera dangling for its life around his neck, and turned to Luhan “Do you like my best friend or what?”

“I like him.” Luhan replied without faltering.

“What the , Baek.” Minseok felt his cheeks burning at the embarrassment because this felt like an impromptu wedding in the middle of a kitchen with all the hand holding, longing stares and vows.

“Oi, Minseok, Do you like this guy or not.”

Minseok looked at Luhan to see a beautiful shade of pink filming the tips of his ears and face.

“O-of course, I like him. Maybe…” Minseok answered like a twelve year old playing spin the bottle in a sleepover.

“Maybe?” The smile on Luhan’s face feel with his eyebrows trying to meet in between.

“Okay. Okay. I like you.” How badly did Minseok want for the floor to just crack open and eat him.

“Okay. Now you guys could kiss.” Baekhyun said, covering his face with his hands but peeking through his fingers. “Go ahead. I’m not looking.”

Minseok was just about to turn his head back to looking at Luhan and figure out what to do now; but there were suddenly cold and damp lips against his, dragging his qualms and replacing them with confidence of taking the next step. He boldly wrapped his arms around Luhan’s neck and tasted what he had been missing along.

There were sounds of Baekhyun’s camera in the background but Minseok thought he could forgive his best friend for now.