“You sent flowers to yourself?” Jongin asks incredulously as he and Baekhyun walk down the street, thick coats protecting them from the icy January wind. Baekhyun nods defeatedly.

“Sixty dollars I spent on this big, stupid arrangement of flowers. And I wrote a card that I planned to leave out on the front table where Kibum would just happen to see it—”

“What did the card say?”

“Please say yes. Love, Jonathan,” Baekhyun mutters embarrassedly. Jongin just shakes his head at him.

“And did it work?”

“He didn’t even come over. He forgot some charity thing his wife was chairman of,” Baekhyun laments. “He’s never going to leave her.”

“Of course he isn’t,” Jongin glares at his best friend. Baekhyun lightly hits himself in the head as if trying to knock some sense into himself.

“You’re right, you’re right. I know you’re right.” He glances around at the street, “Where is this place, anyways?”

“Somewhere on the next block,” Jongin smiles.

“God, I can’t believe I’m doing this…”

“Look, Kyungsoo is one of my best friends, and you are one of my best friends, and if by some chance you two hit it off, we could all still be friends instead of drifting apart the way you do when you get involved with someone who doesn’t know your friends.”

“You and I haven’t drifted apart since I started seeing Kibum.”

Jongin gives him a look. “If Kibum ever left his wife and I actually met him, I’m sure you and I would drift apart.”

“He’s never going to leave her,” Baekhyun sighs.

“Of course he isn’t.”

“You’re right, you’re right. I know you’re right.”

—

“I hate myself for letting you talk me into this,” Chanyeol grumbles as he walks beside Kyungsoo. “You know I’ve finally gotten to a place in my life where I’m comfortable with the fact that it’s just me and my work. If he’s so great, why aren't you taking him out?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “We’re just friends.”

“So you’re saying he’s not that attractive?”

“No, I told you he was attractive.”

“But you also said he has a good personality.”

“He does have a good personality.”

Chanyeol gestures as if Kyungsoo’s just proved his point. Kyungsoo just stares at him.

“What?”

“When someone’s not attractive, they’re always described as having a good personality,” he explains.

“Look,” Kyungsoo sighs. “If you had asked me what he looks like and I said ‘he has a good personality,’ that would have meant he’s not attractive. But just because I happen to mention he has a good personality, he could be either. He could be unattractive with a good personality, or attractive with a good personality.”

“So which one is he?”

“Attractive,” Kyungsoo says, barely keeping the exasperation out of his voice.

“But not beautiful, right?”

Chanyeol recoils a little at the glare Kyungsoo gives him.

—

It’s awkward. Almost unbearably so.

They haven’t even ordered their food yet, and they’re already running out of small talk. Kyungsoo can easily tell by Jongin’s body language how unattracted he is to Chanyeol, and Baekhyun isn’t doing much for him, either. 

“Oh, Baekhyun,” Jongin says pleasantly when there’s a lull in the conversation. “You and Kyungsoo are both from New Jersey.”

“Oh, really?” Baekhyun smiles at the man in front of him. “Where are you from?”

“Haddonfield,” Kyungsoo replies.

“South Orange,” Baekhyun tells him.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo nods. There’s a beat of quiet before they all look back at their menus. Jongin slumps a little in defeat.

“So what are we going to order?” Kyungsoo asks to fill the silence.

“I’m going to start with the grilled radicchio,” the youngest volunteers, offering a cheerful smile to the other men at the table.

“Chanyeol, Jongin is a great orderer,” Kyungsoo smiles, ignoring the look Jongin gives him. “It’s not just that he always picks the best thing on the menu; he orders it in such a way that the chef had no idea how good it could be.”

“I think restaurants have become too important,” Chanyeol says as he reads the menu.

“I agree,” Baekhyun pipes up. “‘Restaurants are to modern people what theatre was to people in the Sixties,’” he quotes with a smile. “I read that in a magazine.”

Chanyeol looks up to stare at him in shock. “I wrote that.”

“You did?” Baekhyun gasps, closing his menu leaning over the table as Chanyeol does the same. “Oh my god, I’ve never quoted anything from a magazine in my life. That’s amazing. Don’t you think that’s amazing?”

Chanyeol smiles brightly and nods. “I also wrote ‘Pesto is the quiche of the 21st Century.’”

“Stop it!” Baekhyun almost squeals, kicking his feet a little under the table. “Are you serious? Where did I read that?” 

Chanyeol laughs, smiling brightly at the excitement on Baekhyun’s face. “New York Magazine.”

“Jongin writes for New York Magazine,” Kyungsoo says. Chanyeol smiles and nods at Jongin before turning back to Baekhyun.

“No one’s ever quoted me back to me before!”

Jongin meets Kyungsoo’s eyes across the table as their dates continue to chatter away, giving him a wry smile before taking another long sip of his drink.

—

“Oh, I’ve been looking for boots like these!” Baekhyun exclaims as the four of them pass a shoe store following dinner, pulling Jongin aside to look in the window as the other two keep walking down the street.

“What do you think of Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks in a hushed whisper as soon as they’re alone, the look on his face uncharacteristically serious as he looks up into Jongin’s face. “Do you think you’d go out with him?”

“I don’t know… I mean—”

“—because I feel really comfortable with him.”

“You want to go out with Chanyeol,” Jongin sighs with a nod. 

“But would it be okay with you?” He asks again, looking concerned.

“Sure, sure,” Jongin nods again, smiling reassuringly. “I’m… I’m just worried about Kyungsoo. He’s very sensitive; he’s going through a rough time, so don’t, like, reject him right now, you know?”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t,” Baekhyun quickly agrees. “I totally understand.”

—

“If you don’t think you’re going to call Baekhyun, do you mind if I call him?” Chanyeol is asking Kyungsoo a few yards further down the street.

“Well, no…” Kyungsoo hesitates, “…but for tonight you shouldn’t… Jongin’s very vulnerable. I mean, you can call Baekhyun, it’s fine, but in like a week, you know? After a decent interval. But don’t make any moves tonight.”

“Fine, no problem,” Chanyeol nods his agreement. “No problem. I wasn’t even thinking about tonight.”

Jongin and Baekhyun rejoin them, the youngest trying to ignore his best friend’s heart eyes as he looks at Chanyeol. “Well,” Chanyeol says casually, wandering closer to the curb. “I don’t feel like walking anymore. I think I’ll get a cab.”

“I’ll join you,” Baekhyun immediately offers.

“Great,” Chanyeol grins. “Taxi!”

The cab screeches to halt on the curb, and Jongin and Kyungsoo watch in shock as the two of them excitedly get into it together, already clinging to each other as the cab pulls away as quickly as it stopped. They’re left standing on the curb together in sudden silence, and share a tired look before continuing their walk down the avenue.