Jongdae seemed to have a very… interesting idea of what helping entailed.

            At first, it was just ‘subtle’ hints. Or, well, as subtle as throwing rocks at someone you hate would be. Really, Luhan couldn’t tell if this was Jongdae’s way of being annoying and smug in getting back at Luhan for blackmailing him, or if the younger boy was actually that dumb. The majority of the ‘hints,’ as they were called, came out during dinner, through the form of strangely worded, almost-innuendos about the most mundane things.

            “So hyung, Luhan hyung’s been teaching you how to be a Pokémon trainer, right?”

            “Yeah, I’ve been getting my handed to me in most of our battles, though.”

            “Oh, I bet Luhan hyung likes that.”

            Of course, Yixing would pitch in, clueless as always.

            “Is he a good trainer then?”

            “Oh definitely, just like all those ones on TV.”

            And then, ing Jongdae.

            “If he’s so good, maybe he can train you in a bunch of… other things.”

            Luhan could only hope the world would just swallow him whole right then and there, but of course, Jongdae wasn’t done. No, because when he realized that simple words weren’t going to do the trick, he did was he does best: screwing around.

            As with everything terrible, it started mildly: lightly pushing Luhan when he was on crutches so he’d trip towards Minseok, who’d obviously catch him, or sneakily convincing some nearby Squirtles to drench Minseok so his body would be visible under those white work shirts he wore every once in a while. But of course, things escalated further and further, from switching out their clothes in the laundry so they’d wear each others’ shirts to fake-texting some, ahem, questionable things from both of their phones to each other. Really, Luhan would be lying if he said he’d gotten over having to be carried by Minseok up the stairs because his crutches had mysteriously disappeared (but god, did Minseok have a ton of upper arm strength).

            And now, Jongdae was here with something so deceiving simple, that Luhan cursed the fact that he couldn’t run.  

            “And what the everloving is this?”

            Jongdae pouted, and if this was anyone else, Luhan may have found the look endearing, at the very least. But this was Jongdae, meaning no matter how sweet he may have appeared, he had some devious plan that no one including probably Arceus himself approved of.

            “This is how you’re gonna sweep hyung off his feet, duh!” he responded, his voice whiny and high.

            “…With movie tickets?” he shot back reluctantly.

            “C’mon, movies are like, the more popular first date, right?” Luhan wondered what kind of dates Jongdae had been on before, because he was pretty sure he hadn’t seen people go on movie first dates in years. He’d known the town was a bit… behind its time, but really?

            “Right, and how exactly am I gonna ask him?”

            “Just ask him! C’mon, aren’t you supposed to be all confident and super macho or whatever?” Luhan resisted the urge to say yes, he was very macho, thank you very much, but he also had enough pride to fear for it being shattered if Minseok said no.

            “Okay, but this is Minseok we’re talking about. When am I even gonna get the chance to ask him, and who’s to say he’ll even be free? The movie starts in like, four hours, and it takes at least half an hour to get to the town the theater’s in if we’re going in Minseok’s truck. Actually, probably longer seeing as how narrow the roads are near here.”

            “He’s free, don’t worry, I checked.” Well, that took care of one thing. “’Sides, hyung drives like a madman, so even if you leave late, you’ll get there on time.”

            “…Is that supposed to comfort me?”

            “Look, there he is! Go ask him, before he disappears into his office again!” And with that, Jongdae was shoving him in the back towards Minseok, and Luhan barely managed to catch his balance without falling on his face. “Hyung! Luhan hyung has something to ask you!”

            Jongdae was ducking away and escaping before Luhan could snap at him—not like he would, not with brother-complex Minseok walking over to them, curiosity shining in his eyes.

            “Lu?” Well, that confirmed that no, that nickname still wasn’t good for his heart. “What’s up?”

            “U-uh,” Luhan started dumbly, internally groaning because it was hot as hell in the middle of the day, and Minseok’s sweat only made him look like some laboring god rather than the damp, awkward ball of discomfort that Luhan knew he was. “I just, uh, wanted to know if you were, ah, y’know…”

            “No, I don’t know,” Minseok replied easily, amused, with an eyebrow raised.

            “Are you busy tonight?” he finally managed to ask. “Jon—I mean, I got these tickets for the movies in the next town at 7, and I wanted to know if you were down to go.” Did that sound like a date invitation? if Luhan knew, everyone he’d dated before asked him out, not the other way around.

            “Sure, sounds like fun,” Minseok chirped. “We can have dinner and then head out.” His looked turned from happy to concerned a second later, though. “Will you be alright getting around, though? Should be bring a foldable wheelchair, just in case?”

            “Huh? Oh, no, I’ll be fine, really!” Luhan assured.

            Over the past few days he’d been making the change from wheelchairs and crutches to a simple, but bulky leg brace. It was a pain, sure, but at least he was able to walk a little more freely now, and it meant that he was just that much closer to being completely healed. The thought of what he was going to do after his leg had completely healed still hung over him in a dreadful cloud of confusion and conflict, but he did his best to ignore it for now. After all, it couldn’t be a problem if he didn’t think about it, right?

            “Alright, if you say so… I should clear out the truck a little now, actually, it’s pretty messy. I’ll see you at dinner?”

            “Y-yeah, sounds good…”

            Luhan let out a sigh as Minseok walked away, resolving to either buy Jongdae a ton of sweets or stamp on his foot with his leg brace after this, depending on how it went.

----

            If there was ever a time where Luhan thought he was a breath away from death, now would be that time.

            “Min, —dude holy you nearly ran over a Ratat—there’s a tree! Holy I’m gonna die—will you slow down?!”

            As the car rocked around further as they crossed over a particularly large vine at top speed, Luhan could barely stop himself from jumping out of the car and ending it all then and there. Minseok, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his laugh, only laughing at Luhan’s misery and reaching one hand out—that really should’ve been on the steering wheel considering how Minseok drove—to pat him on the back.

            “There, there,” he cooed in a mock-comforting voice. “We’re almost onto the main road, you big baby.”

            “Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better,” Luhan grumbled, which just make Minseok burst out in laughter.

            Eventually, somehow, they made it to the theater in one piece, and Luhan was contemplating just kissing the ground when they finally parked and got out of the car, because dear god was he glad to be on flat, non-moving ground after that death trap. He eventually decided against it though, instead just considering the chances of him walking back to the ranch on his own, because if he was going to survive another ride with Minseok.

            “Sure you’re not gonna puke?” Minseok asked him as they walked into the cinema, an eyebrow raised in amusement as Luhan just glared at him in response as he handed their tickets to the usher.

            “Down this hall to your right,” she directed them, and Luhan nodded to him in thanks, trying to ignore the sleazy, almost knowing look on her face. His unease only grew as she continued to speak. “Do have an… enjoyable time in the movie, Sirs.”

            Well that was… creepy.

            “I think she liked you,” Minseok commented, and Luhan perked up at this. Maybe, just maybe, this was… jealousy? For him? Was Minseok thinking about telling that girl off for flirting with h— “Maybe we should go back to see if she’ll give you her number. She’s cute, after all.” Or not.

            “I’ll pass, thanks,” Luhan deadpanned, heart lightening a bit when Minseok just shrugged.

            “What movie are we watching, anyway?” he asked instead, and as he said that, a sudden realization hit Luhan.

            “…I don’t, uh, actually know.”

            “Dude what the .”

            What? It wasn’t his fault that he for some outrageous trusted Jongdae enough to not even attempt to question his movie choice, whatever it was. Well, okay, yes it was his fault, but that didn’t mean he’d admit it. Besides, it was Jongdae. Knowing that kid, he probably just booked something at random or, worse, picked some kid’s movie so they’d look like idiots in a theater filled with five years old kids. Then later, once it was all done and over with, he’d be able to make as many idiotic ‘baby-face’ jokes as he wanted until Yixing eventually convinced him to let it go, that ‘teasing your brother is bad’ or whatever type of peaceful Yixing would say to calm a probably hysteric-Jongdae.

            What was he talking about again?

            Oh right, the movie.

            “I just picked one at random,” Luhan eventually answered half-heartedly. When Minseok looked at him in disbelief, he hastily continued, “I dunno, I haven’t really paid much attention to any of the movies coming out recently, so I just chose one that was playing at an okay time. Figured it’d be nice to go in the evening, but nothing too late for a certain old man who sleeps at 11 every night.”

            “Hey, I resent that! Proper sleep schedules are the key to health, you know?”

            “Sure, sure, say whatever you want old man.”

            “We’re the same age.”

            “A few months clearly make a difference, it seems.”

            “Don’t make me strangle you before the movie even starts.”

            Luhan barely managed to bite back a ‘choke me daddy,’ but luckily, just as the thought crossed his mind, the theater began dimming, the advertisements and trailers beginning. They watched them in relatively silent, occasionally whispering about one or another particularly stupid movie cliché or excessive CGI or whatever else they could poke fun at. It wasn’t like either of them were that interested in ever going to see the movies being advertised—the fact that they went out to go see this one was already a massive feat only pioneered by Luhan’s uncontrollable thirs—attraction—and Minseok’s inability to say no to anything.

            Eventually, the lights completely dimmed, and the movie began rolling. The beginning scenes were dull, to say the least, just some urban sprawl with cliché pop music in the background, and Luhan was mentally preparing himself for some stupid romcom setting as he watched who must have been the main female protagonist walked down the streets on screen. Glancing over, he saw Minseok was about as amused, and he figured even if the movie , they’d have something to laugh over once this trainwreck was over.

            They could stage whisper to each other whenever the female protagonist fell over or the male lead did something ‘suave’ that would only ever be acceptable in a movie. They could piss off the people sitting around them by fake texting in the middle of a sappy scene or walking out to pee or something, even though they were seated in the middle of the row. Hell, Luhan wouldn’t be above obnoxiously laughing at whatever ‘tragic’ event was bound to happen in a movie like this. Honestly, this theatre wasn’t even that crowded, so it wasn’t like he’d really be offending that many people—

            And that’s when he heard it.

            Snapping his head up to the screen, which had suddenly gone black, he quickly turned to Minseok, who looked just about as shocked as he was. He tried to look back to the screen, but only the movie title was showing as the movie actually began. The thoughts began racing through his mind—oh dear god is that what I think it was did that actually happen what the Jongdae.

            “Did someone just…” he started slowly, whispering as Minseok looked over to him, and the fact that the older man was blushing did nothing to quell his fears. “Did someone just moan?”

            Some sort of weird velvety red texture was showing on screen now, zoomed in on what looked like bedsheets, and Luhan had never wanted to ignore an answer from Minseok more in his entire life.

            “M-maybe… next time you should check the movie description,” Minseok finally whispered back, and Luhan decided this, this was the exact moment that the ground was meant to crack open and swallow him down into the Distortion World where Giratina could Ancient Power him right in the .

            Vaguely, though, his mind clung onto two simple words: next time.                  

we're gonna assume kanto region movie theatres are just like theatres all around the real world and show mild os like everyone else
also sorry this took so long and that it's kinda short im trying i swear

but yeah anyway don't trust jongdae ever