~~~

Jongin leans back in his chair and does his best to cross his legs without the candy in his lap falling on the floor. Swallowing the strawberry liquid in his  mouth, he keeps his eyes glued on the giant screen in front of him, with a bit of caution. The words ‘Based On A True Story’ pop up on the screen and he can’t help the chill that runs down his spine at the four words. Although he’s never really believed in the whole ‘true-based-events-horror’ type thing, he won’t deny that the thought of a murderer breaking into your house with the sole intention to kill you or a ghost hanging out in your hallways just waiting to pop out and scare you chills him to the very bone, no matter how realistic it may be. In this case, it’s (apparently) a demon haunting a newly bought house; it’s not a home invasion movie, like Jongin had initially thought (in his defense, a demon haunting a house sounds a lot like it belongs in the home invasion genre if he does say so himself), but either way, he’s scared.

Beside him, Sehun is sitting with his legs spread out and his hands folded in his lap as he watches the screen intently. Jongin can’t really see him, but the faint white glow casted by the screen is just enough to illuminate Sehun’s face, or at least partially; his eyes as they move back and forth between the many names in front of them, the way his lips are curled upwards, almost in a smirk, as he watches the screen with a sense of pent up curiosity and, of course, the way a lock of his hair rests on his forehead as a result of cocking his head sideways to get a better look at the images on the screen. Jongin thinks it should be a hundred percent illegal for somebody to look that stunning while watching a creepy movie. Not that he sees any correlation, at all, but still.

Jongin reads the names of the main actors in front of him only to furrow his eyebrows in confusion because in all honesty - he doesn’t know if he’s just uncultured or simply not a horror fan in general - he doesn’t recognize a single name, including that of the director, whom Sehun had called ‘the best horror director of our generation’, with a great bit of confidence, as well. Jongin doesn’t know if he should take Sehun's word for it or not, but he decides to, anyway, considering the fact that it’s his very first horror movie, after all.

When the last name disappears, a loud boom rings through the air and Jongin, inevitably, being as unprepared as ever, nearly jumps five feet in the air, along with a handful of others (not including Sehun, of course), much to his relief, while successfully stifling a cry of surprise. in’ jumpscares, man. He thanks his lucky stars he wasn’t on a lollipop or munching on popcorn or candy at the moment because he’s at least a hundred percent sure the next couple of seconds would’ve been spent with him on the floor, struggling to breathe. In the corner of his eye, he spots the little girl, who is happily on a lollipop, his lollipop, while watching the screen, eyes twinkling. Again, Jongin wonders why on Earth such a young girl would be allowed inside the theater. He figures that as the movie progresses, she’ll eventually get so scared she’ll have to leave with her Mother.

As the room is plunged into semi darkness again, an alarming silence fills the air and Jongin subconsciously sinks lower in his chair because if Baekhyun and Jongdae, being horror fanatics and all, have taught him anything, it’s that in horror movies, 99% of the time, silence always leads to jumpscares. Fighting the urge to cover his ears (he doesn’t, obviously, because he’s certain Sehun would to hell and back about it afterwards), Jongin clenches his jaw and prays he doesn’t get the living daylights scared out of him.

Just when he thinks he’s waited a tad bit too long, Jongin mentally slaps himself for trusting Baekhyun and Jongdae before relaxing a little. Hands fumbling around in his lap, he finally locates his tub(s) of popcorn and grabs the first one he touches. However, he doesn’t get a chance to put his hand inside it when he, out of nowhere, feels a hand on his shoulder.

Before Jongin gets a chance to process the fact that not only has he let out a loud, booming squawk of surprise, but also caused at least ¾ of the people in front of him to turn around and glare at him, he blinks when he realizes the weight of the tub in his hands has decreased by an (alarmingly) significant amount.

It’s not until a piece of popcorn falls from his hair, closely followed by ten, and then twelve, that Jongin, to his horror, realizes what he’s done and he instinctively looks to his left, only to let out another squawk of surprise (or, rather, terror) when he sees Sehun, who’s in the midst of shaking at least fifty popcorn kernels off his clothes and out of his hair. Oh fu-

“Sorry about that,” Sehun whispers and chuckles when the little girl proceeds to reach for some popcorn in his lap. “Didn’t know you were so on edge,” he adds and picks up a kernel. “This isn’t caramel or anything gross like that, right? It’s too dark for me to see.”

Just like their little ordeal an hour or so ago, Jongin is overly thankful for the fact that it’s dark enough in the room for his blush not to show. While he had expected to get his socks scared off, he most definitely hadn’t been counting on accidentally spilling more than half of the contents of his popcorn on both himself and Sehun. For a minute, he panics because he really isn’t sure how to answer Sehun’s question and the thought of whether or not he’s ruined the latter’s jacket pops up in his head, making him panic a tad bit more. “I, uh-” he stammers, careful to avoid looking up in fear of locking eyes with an angry stranger. He quiets down when he hears a low crunching noise.

“Nevermind, it wasn’t,” Sehun chuckles before reaching out and ruffling Jongin’s hair. In the darkness, he can’t really see where he’s putting his hands and he presses his lips together when his fingers comes in contact with at least six pieces of popcorn. Jesus, it’s like a popcorn's nest up here, he thinks before proceeding to gently brush them off. “Careful.”

That’s one tub wasted, Jongin thinks to himself before crossing his arms over his chest and fixating his gaze on the screen, just in time to see a couple of people, whom he assumes are the main actors portraying the family, carry a bunch of moving boxes from the moving truck to the doorstep of their newly bought house. He has no idea how much he’s missed by now, but he tries his best to catch up, anyway, all while hoping that salt doesn’t, in some way, have disintegrating effects on a human scalp.

When he watches the main actress descend the stairs down to what he assumes is the basement, Jongin swallows. He’s never been a fan of basements in the first place, so seeing a helpless person walk down into one all by themselves, in the dark, sends his mind reeling, and the dark toned, eerie music accompanying it does absolutely nothing to lighten the atmosphere.

When the Mother, whose name Jongin thinks is Carolyn, utters the words ‘Whoever’s down there, I’m gonna lock you in now’, only for the door to slam right in her face, sending her tumbling down the many steps when she turns around, Jongin flinches. Thanks to said scene, he suddenly, vaguely, remembers Jungah accidentally locking him in the basement when they were young children during a game of tag while their parents were away buying groceries, which in turn spawned his fear for dark, spacious basements. Despite it being more than 13 years ago, it still gives Jongin goosebumps just thinking about it, and he subconsciously bites the inside of his lip in discomfort when he sees how downright creepy the basement in front of him is; broken furniture, old toys, a big mirror sitting in the middle of the floor as well as white sheets draped over God knows what litter the spacious room. The mere sight makes his skin crawl.

Hearing the lock click into place at the top of the stairs makes him ball his hands into fists as the camera pans around to reveal the spaciousness of the basement. In the corner of his eye, he can see Sehun’s eyes glimmer with anticipation and interest and Jongin, being on the verge of a mental breakdown himself, nearly whacks Sehun in the arm because how on Earth does he find this remotely exciting??????

It’s not until the lights go out in the basement, and the Mother is at the way top of the staircase, that Jongin actually does cover his eyes (which he doesn’t understand himself because, if anything, he should be covering his ears) but he quickly removes his hands from his face in case Sehun sees him, so he opts to keep his hands in his lap instead as he forces himself to watch the scenes play out in front of him (despite being scared out of his wits, he can kind of understand why Baekhyun, Jongdae and Sehun all find the horror genre so amusing - it’s a little interesting, but only a little). He listens to the Mother bang on the door for a while and nearly jumps out of his own skin when he suddenly feels a hand on top of his own.

“Scared?” Sehun whispers when he leans in closer to Jongin, a bit of amusement lacing his words, not taking his eyes off the screen.

I am now, Jongin thinks, pressing his lips together before he shrugs nonchalantly. He exhales a shaky breath when the Mother lights a match, shining it down the staircase into the pitch blackness. How on Earth did I manage to get talked into this, he thinks to himself and winces when the camera pans to the staircase and Jongin would rather keep his eyes shut than jump at whatever monster might emerge from the darkness, make its way up the steps and scar him for life. He doesn’t, however, close his eyes for unknown reasons and subconsciously grabs Sehun’s hand, resting both their hands on the armrest, careful to avoid the water bottle that’s sitting dangerously close to the edge, when a voice, that Jongin assumes belongs to a little girl, says something he can’t quite make out (his brain is much too clouded with anxiety in order to properly decipher people’s voices at the moment).

Jongin sits glued to his chair, bracing himself for whichever unattractive, scary monster might dash up the stairs at abnormal speeds any second. What he doesn’t expect, however, is for two (human) hands to pop up out of the darkness, behind the main actress' shoulder and proceed to clap twice, sending her, him, and the rest of the audience (not including Sehun, of course) into a state of blind fear. In fact, Jongin doesn’t even realize he’d been grabbing onto Sehun’s hand unnaturally tight until the latter emits a pained hiss and he quickly lets go. Jongin doesn’t know if it was the loud, booming noise that usually accompanies a jumpscare that did it or the fact that the whole clapping thing was so incredibly unexpected, but either way, he’s absolutely mortified when he looks to the left, only to see Sehun in the process of wiping his jacket clean. Upon closer inspection, Jongin realizes the water bottle that Sehun had bought for himself is nowhere to be seen and it suddenly dawns on him that he vaguely recalls his hand bumping into something solid the moment he had flinched. A blush, even warmer than before, quickly shoots up his neck and spreads across his face. God in' damn it.

Momentarily tearing his eyes off the screen, Jongin makes sure nobody has turned around to stare at them before erupting into a series of quiet, panicked ‘I’m sorry’s as he watches Sehun remove his jacket. He never, ever thought the saying ‘Three strikes and you’re out’ would become useful to him, but as he watches Sehun wipe the excess water off his hands on his jeans, he realizes he’s very, very wrong.

Jongin wholeheartedly expects Sehun to stand up and walk out of the room (because seriously, there’s only so much one can take) while muttering something along the lines of ‘weirdo’, which is why the spark of surprise that ignites deep in his gut when Sehun lifts the armrest up before proceeding to pull him in closer, so their bodies are practically pressed together, comes as no surprise. In fact, the warmth that courses through Jongin’s body as a result of Sehun’s body heat promptly distracts him from the grotesque scenes in front of him. With Sehun’s right arm safely wrapped around his shoulders, Jongin momentarily forgets that he is, in fact, at the cinema watching a movie and not soaring high above the clouds when Sehun proceeds to rub his shoulder with his thumb, and he nearly cackles at the comicalness of it all. Not that that’s a bad thing or anything, he thinks to himself as he buries his face in the taller’s chest, truly thankful to finally have an excuse not to watch the rather disgusting scenes playing out on the screen before him. In truth, he’d rather watch Sehun over scary monsters any day.

As he sits there, Sehun’s scent taking him to Wonderland, Jongin processes everything. The fact that he and Sehun had been screaming profanities in each other’s faces a mere hour and a half ago absolutely stuns him, and it’s so surreal he still doesn’t even know if it ever happened in the first place (he truly hopes it didn’t). Deciding to repress said incident, especially considering the fact that his back aches just thinking about it, he listens as the audience screams at God knows what before zoning out (not that he doesn’t appreciate the movie, he just thinks Sehun’s touch and scent is a tad bit more important than an old, dead woman hanging from a giant tree). He hears the little girl one seat away whisper something along the lines of ‘Mommy, is that makeup or is she really dead?’ to her Mother and he chuckles inwardly. At least she isn’t crying.

One thought leads to another and he suddenly remembers when Sehun had called her ‘Darling’ a little while ago. One half of Jongin feels like an absolute disgrace for ever feeling envious of...his Sehun??? (in complete honesty, Jongin has zero idea what to call Sehun, even after, well, everything) calling a ten year old girl some sappy pet name, and he has mentally smacked himself for being such a fool on a handful of occasions since the film started. But the other half of him feels a great sense of uncomfort and he hates himself for it. He doesn’t know if it’s because getting Sehun had seemed so impossible up until this point and he doesn’t want to risk plunging back into the state of insecurity and doubt that plagued him for ages until it was clear he had caught Sehun’s attention, too, or because he simply, easily gets jealous. Jongin figures it’s both to the fullest.

For once in his life, he’s thankful for having Jongdae and Baekhyun as his best friends because, despite how all over the place the two may be, Jongin figures he owes them for life for encouraging (or rather, forcing) him to make the first move last week. Jongin suddenly realizes that if it hadn’t been for Baekhyun stealing his phone and adding Sehun as a friend without his knowledge, as well as Jongdae also stealing his phone on the bus and typing out and sending Sehun his very first message, he most likely wouldn’t be sitting where he is right now, and for the first time in what Jongin assumes is forever, he makes a mental note to thank Jongdae and Baekhyun when he gets home. Or, to be exact, when he manages to get his phone to start up, which probably won’t happen given that he’d dropped it a good three feet above the rocky, uneven ground, so Jongin figures he’ll have to do it in person in three days. If he remembers, that is.

As much as Jongin wouldn’t call himself a cheesy guy, he won’t deny that he’s never felt so complete in his life. For some reason, he thinks of Jongdae and Baekhyun’s infamous nickname of ‘Prince Charming’, which makes Jongin realize that he very much feels like Cinderella in this very moment. Or Sleeping Beauty. Or Snow White, however you’d like to call it; at least as of right now. In fact, if Baekhyun and or Jongdae were here, Jongin figures they’d pressure Sehun to carry him bridal style out of the movie theatre as soon as the movie finishes. The thought nearly makes him laugh out loud.

Stuffing a handful of gummy bears into his mouth, Jongin is suddenly struck with the thought of what on Earth is to come next. Not for the next couple of months, perhaps, since thinking about the future scares him, but as soon as the movie is over and the adrenaline wears off completely. An endless list of potential outcomes fill his mind but he promptly shoves it aside, instead choosing to reach for Sehun’s free hand, the one that isn’t holding him, to which the latter reciprocates. Their hands meet in the middle and Jongin tries to squash the inevitable feeling of euphoria when Sehun proceeds to interlock their fingers and give the blond’s hand a small squeeze. If it’s out of adoration or reassurance, Jongin doesn’t know but what he does know, however, is that he’s thankful he chose to leave his jacket behind because he’s certain that wearing it would cause him to die of heatstroke.

11:38 PM

“What’d you think?”

It’s the sound of incoherent murmuring and the rustling of empty chips bags and clothes that wakes Jongin up and for a second he forgets where he even is. He doesn’t feel Sehun’s arm around his shoulder anymore and he blinks the sleep out of his eyes before lifting his head, hissing when he opens his eyes and is instantly greeted with a harsh set of bright, white lights, much to Sehun’s amusement.

In front of him, the screen is dimmed and Jongin blinks a few more times before looking to his left in the nick of time to see Sehun on his feet while he zips his jacket. Jongin notices at least ⅔ of the whole audience has walked out and, getting the hint, he quickly stands up, instantly regretting it when the (thankfully unopened) candy in his lap promptly falls from his lap and onto the floor. “Damn it.”

“Careful now,” Sehun says, although Jongin doesn’t think he sounds worried in the least, as he places a sturdy arm on the latter’s shoulder to keep him from toppling over. All of a sudden, he lets out a loud laugh. “You’ve still got popcorn in your hair,” he mumbles, letting go of Jongin’s arm and reaching up to dust the excess kernels off the blond’s head. “It’s just that they’re as white as your hair so it’s impossible to see ‘em.”

Ignoring the pain in his legs, Jongin mutters an ‘I bet’ as he stretches and eyes the heap of candy on the floor. “What’re we gonna do with all this?” he asks, mainly himself.

“Bring it home with you,” Sehun suggests, patting Jongin on the back. “Anyway, what’d you think of that? Lemme guess, you were scared out of your mind the whole time, right?” he chuckles as he watches Jongin bend down and pick up the food.

Standing up straight, Jongin is careful not to drop anything in his arms. The little girl and her Mother have left, much to his relief. “It was pretty creepy, the basement scene where she got locked in'll haunt my dreams for the next ten years,” he grunts, struggling to keep the pile intact. “I mean, I don’t remember much,” he adds and squawks when a lollipop slips from the pile, only for Sehun to, inevitably, catch it at lightning speed. “Thanks.”

“That’s because you fell asleep like, shortly after that scene,” Sehun chuckles before proceeding to unwrap the lollipop in his hands. “Don’t worry, though, I know you’re probably tired from school and all,” he adds, sticking it in his mouth.

“I didn’t!” Jongin squawks, trying to swipe the lollipop out of Sehun’s hands with no success. “Hey, that’s mine!”

“You keep forgetting I paid for it, so technically,” Sehun says smugly, removing the lollipop from his mouth only to put it back in. “Besides, for a grown man, you sure are a bad liar,” he adds and stifles a laugh because he most definitely uses the term ‘grown’ very, very loosely. He doesn’t have the courage to tell the blond, though, because he knows the latter will probably shove the lollipop down his airway.

Jongin blinks. “Huh?” he says dumbly before fighting the urge to pout. “Yeah, I know you did, but like.” He shuts his mouth and clears his throat. “Nevermind.”

Grabbing the blond’s sleeve when a man in the door mumbles a low ‘sir, we’re closing up’, Sehun replies with a nod before gently ushering Jongin, very slowly as to not risk the latter dropping anything, towards the open door to their left. Walking behind Jongin, Sehun notices the blond has still got grains of salt in his hair but he decides not to reach out and remove them in fear of startling Jongin (he figures Jongin is, no matter how hard the latter is trying to hide it, scared out of his wits) and thus resulting in the latter dropping everything in his arms.

“What I meant was,” Sehun says, zipping his jacket up to his chin when they step out into the same red carpeted hallway as before, “I know you were asleep. Well, not the whole time, at least. ‘Cause, you know.” He gestures to Jongin’s hair before letting out a loud laugh, ignoring the same man who promptly hushes him.

“I wasn’t expecting the damn jumpscare, you dolt,” Jongin squawks, a hint of embarrassment in his voice. “You would’ve done the same exact thing if you were in my place,” he mumbles when they end up in the main room, which is completely deserted, and walking towards the nearest chair, gently placing his candy on it.

Following Jongin, Sehun shrugs. “I actually wouldn’t, but okay, sure,” he chuckles as he shoves his free hand in his pockets and watches as Jongin divides his candy into neat, even piles. “I’m used to horror movies and such, I guess,” he adds. “Hey, I-”

“What am I gonna do with all this?” Jongin groans, eyeing the piles before him. He suddenly turns around and shoves at least six different chocolate bars in Sehun’s pockets. “You take these!”

Smacking Jongin’s hands away, Sehun takes a step back before shaking his head dramatically. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like this stuff, I’m sorry,” Sehun retorts, voice almost a whine, as he gently shoves Jongin away. “Not to mention I haven’t had anything chocolate-y in like, years, so,” he adds sheepishly, rubbing his neck.

Ever since you joined the team, obviously. Fighting the urge to laugh at the sight of Sehun with a ton of chocolate bars sticking out of his jacket pockets, Jongin presses his lips together before shrugging. “That’s no excuse, what’s with you,” he says with a pout, fighting the urge to put his hands on his hips. When Sehun only stares at him like he’s grown a second head, he sighs before walking forward and grabbing one of the bars from Sehun’s pockets.

Sehun furrows his eyebrows when he watches Jongin unwrap said chocolate bar. “What are you doi-” He instinctively leans away like he’s been burned when the blond proceeds to shove the now opened bar of chocolate, which misses his lips by a mere inch, right in his face. “Hey, what are you-”

“I’m a sports freak, y’know, just like you, and I always eat this stuff,” Jongin says. “Not to mention it’s been so long, you might like it, come on, at least try it!”

Sehun blinks. He’s lucky nobody’s watching them right now since he really has no idea how he’d explain what’s going on. “Um-”

“Are you scared?”

“No! Why on Earth would I be s-”

“Then try it!”

“Jongin-”

“Please?”

“Why don’t you just ask them for a bag-”

“I want you to try it!”

“Why’s this so impo-”

“I promise I’ll take a bite, too!”

“Look, I’m not mad at you for choosing so much stuff, just so you kn-”

“You won’t get fat if that’s what you’re scared of-”

“I’m not scared of getting fat!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Sighing, Sehun puts his hands up in defeat. He doesn’t know if it’s Jongin’s nagging or the latter’s doe-eyed expression that makes him absolutely weak in the knees that makes him do it, but before he knows it, he’s muttering an ‘okay, okay’ before grabbing the bar with his free hand and bringing it to his mouth. The smell of cocoa tingles his senses and he doesn’t know if he loves it or hates it. He figures he isn’t in a position to determine that considering the fact that it’s been nearly a decade since he last remembered eating chocolate, or any type of candy for that matter. With Jongin’s stare burning holes in his head, he shrugs before quickly taking a bite, the bitter sweetness of the confectionery melting on his tongue and he shudders. “Okay, I-”

“You can have those, by the way,” Jongin says casually, ignoring Sehun’s squawk of protest of ‘Jongin, I don’t want them!’, before grabbing the rest of the candy and turning around, only to see Sehun with his hand extracted. “I said you can have it!”

“Thanks for the offer,” Sehun chuckles, voice completely void of arrogance or sarcasm, as usual, as he gestures to the chocolate bar in his hand. “But I don’t want it, I’m serious,” he adds and laughs a little when Jongin his head sideways. “It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but you can have it, so it’s yours now,” Jongin says and suddenly erupts into a wide grin. “Hey, Baek actually ate sixteen chocolate bars in one sitting last year, isn’t that crazy?”

Sehun blinks. As if one tiny nibble wasn’t nauseating enough. “That’s....gross.”

“I beat his record, though,” Jongin practically squeals, gesturing to the bars in Sehun’s pockets. “Eighteen, isn’t that cool?” he adds, grunting a bit from the weight in his arms.

“I seriously feel like hurling right now, but I’m sure nothing would come back up,” Sehun mumbles under his breath so Jongin won’t hear. Realizing Jongin isn’t taking the candy back no matter what, he shrugs and turns the face the trash can sitting twenty or so feet away. He wastes absolutely no time in swinging his arm backwards, only to swing it forward again with a reasonable amount of strength, watching as the barely eaten chocolate bar flies (or, according to Jongin; glides) through the air before coming to a stop at the bottom of said trash can with a dull thud that rings through the air for seconds. He stands up straighter and brushes his hands together and in the corner of his eye he can see Jongin watching, perplexed, with his mouth hanging open. “Close your mouth dude, you’ll drool all over the floor. Seriously, I doubt the janitors are looking for extra work around here.”

“That was so cool,” Jongin exclaims way, way too loudly, but as usual, he ignores it. In all honesty, he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop being impressed by Sehun’s seemingly effortless tosses. “How do you nail it each time?”

Sehun shrugs. “It comes naturally to me,” he says sheepishly. “I could teach you if you’d like, one day,” he adds with a small wink before shuddering a little when a cold gust of wind passes as a result of somebody opening the doors a few feet away. “Shall we-”

“Hey, why’s there an umbrella over there?” Jongin asks, out of nowhere, pointing to a tall, blue umbrella leaning against the wall in the corner.

“Guess somebody left it behind for whatever reason,” Sehun shrugs before running a hand through his hair and nodding at the counter. “Now shall we ask for a bag?” He turns around when Jongin doesn’t say anything in the nick of time to see the latter in the midst of turning the trash can over, careful not to let the contents spill out all across the floor. “Hey, what on Earth are you doing?” he asks in confusion as he watches as the blond rummages through the contents. What on Earth.

When Jongin doesn’t reply, Sehun dismisses the blond’s antics as him simply wanting the chocolate bar back so he turns around again and starts walking towards the cashier in search of a plastic bag in which Jongin can put his enormous stash. However, he doesn’t get very far when a noise that closely, at least to him, resembles that of a gunshot suddenly rings through the air and he whirls around at an alarming speed, eyes widening to the size of quarters. What the actual fu-

When the adrenaline wears off, Sehun stares wide eyed at the scene before him. In all honesty, he didn’t expect to be greeted by bloody and gruesome sight. However, the last thing he expects to see is Jongin, standing at least thirty feet away from the trash can, the umbrella - the same one he’d pointed out a mere second ago, held high above his head and left ear, a concentrated expression on his face. At first, Sehun doesn’t understand what on Earth is going on but it’s not until he notices the way Jongin’s knees are slightly bent that it hits him. Oh.

Noticing Sehun’s stare, Jongin snaps out of his mild trance, lowering his arms and placing the umbrella next to him. He clears his throat, a small blush creeping up his neck. “Sorry, I-”

“,” Sehun breathes, mesmerized. “That was- How on Earth’d you- From that freaking distance- With a goddamn umbrella tip,” he babbles, running a hand through his hair in astonishment. He eyes the trash can, which is lying on its side, the contents neatly organized in a pile a foot or so away. “I mean, I always knew you were good as hell-” He watches in awe as Jongin proceeds to walk towards the trash can and bend down before retrieving the chocolate bar he’d just thrown away. “Damn.”

Standing up, Jongin picks up the chocolate bar, which not only has a tiny bite mark in the upper right corner thanks to Sehun, but is also heavily dented as result of the rough blow delivered to its right side by the umbrella only seconds ago. Inspecting the bar in his hand, he squashes the sensation of nostalgia and excitement that bubbles in his gut before shrugging casually. “Thanks,” he says, shooting Sehun his best smile. “Sorry for scaring you, by the way, I uh, I saw the umbrella and I just uh, had to.” He blushes slightly.

“No, Jesus, don’t apologize,” Sehun says, putting his hands up. He isn’t a hundred percent sure, but when he squints his eyes, he’s certain he can make out a slight twinkle in the blond’s eyes although he dismisses it. “What do you call those again?” he asks, walking towards Jongin, the bag long forgotten.

“That was a slapshot,” Jongin replies before clearing his throat again when he eyes the mess on the floor as a result of him emptying the whole trash can. “Sorry, um, I’ll uh, clean up, we can leave now, sorry,” he mumbles, moving to bend down and pick everything up, only for Sehun to place a hand on his shoulder. He looks up and blinks.

“Do that again, one more time,” Sehun says in a mellow voice. “I didn’t get to see last time,” he adds and takes a step back to give Jongin some room. He’s always known the latter was good at, or to be exact, known for his effortless and monster-like slapshots and he’d rather not pass up an opportunity to see it up close, for himself. He chuckles when he sees the hesitance in Jongin’s eyes. “Come on, you’ve seen me pass stuff, now I wanna see you do your thing!”

Jongin scratches the back of his head. “People will hear.”

“Nobody seemed to hear that,” Sehun points out before shooting Jongin a thumbs up. “Come on, I promise to take the blame if people were to start complaining,” he adds for reassurance, body buzzing with excitement.

After a bit of hesitance, Jongin gives in and Sehun very briefly sees the same twinkle flash in the blond’s eyes before it disappears as quick as it came. He watches as Jongin grabs the umbrella tighter before proceeding to jog over so he’s standing twenty or so feet away from the trash can. Sehun watches in awe as the blond makes sure the opening to the trash can is angled properly before bending his knees and raising the umbrella above his head and shoulder. Now, Sehun expects it to go fast, and he braces himself for it, but he certainly never expected for it to go this fast, because before he even gets a chance to blink, the same loud, gunshot-like sound rings through the air, briefly shattering the silence, and Sehun barely gets to process the fact that Jongin has struck the “puck” until another loud thud fills through the air, when the chocolate bar (Sehun honestly wonders if there’s anything left of it at this point), which seems to glide like it’s gliding across butter as it skids across the polished floor, roughly slams into and against the bottom of the trash can. The chocolate bar seemed to zip through the air like it was shot out of a cannon, only leaving a bright yellow streak, thanks to the wrapper, in its wake, before it, according to Sehun, was guided straight into the opening of the trash can by an invisible force. Talk about monster precision. The loud, piercing sound of the moment of impact is still echoing in Sehun’s head and he nearly chuckles when he realizes that if somebody had heard that, without any context whatsoever, they’d call the police and report a shooting. 

Taking a few steps forward, Sehun bends down and reaches into the trash can and his jaw nearly hits the floor when he sees just how ruined the chocolate bar is; the previously flawlessly shaped, rectangular bar has been reduced to a dented, brown mess and he hardly even recognizes it. In fact, he finds it difficult to believe Jongin managed to do this much damage with nothing but an umbrella. Sehun promptly shudders when he thinks about the possible damage Jongin could to do said bar had he used a regular hockey stick instead. Dear God, that poor chocolate would explode like a grenade.

“I haven’t done that in a while,” Jongin says, gently placing the umbrella, which surprisingly isn’t all too damaged at the tip, against the wall. “So uh, sorry if something seemed off,” he adds, bending down and picking up the trash and putting it back inside the trash can, all while letting out occasional groans of disgust when his hands come in contact with old popcorn kernels and spilled Cola.

“Are you kidding?” Sehun squawks. “For someone who hasn’t done that in a while, you sure hit with the strength of a hundred men,” he chuckles, shaking his head in astonishment. “Jesus, I’m starting to think you’re stronger than me.” He watches as Jongin places the trash can upright before he throws the dented chocolate bar inside it. “When was the last time you did it, by the way?”

“When we won our last match a couple of years ago,” Jongin says, brushing his hands together and massaging his wrists. The image from that day, that moment, is still fresh in his mind and it makes his chest bubble with happiness. “How so?”

“You did it so effortlessly, so confidently, so flawlessly,” Sehun babbles and promptly shuts his mouth. Babbling really isn’t his thing. Or it’s not supposed to be, at least. “It looked really cool,” he adds before ruffling Jongin’s hair. “Good boy.”

“I’m not a dog!” Jongin squawks, batting Sehun’s hands away. “I’d hit even harder if I had a real stick, by the way,” he adds, walking over to the pile of candy behind him and picking it up.

Sehun waits for Jongin to catch up before they make their way towards the cashier. “Wonder why they didn’t come out here and complain,” he mumbles, mainly to himself. “Sounded like a frigging gun went off in here.”

Jongin shrugs. "I'm just glad nobody checked it out; I have no idea how I'd explain myself, to be honest." He furrows his eyebrows. “Hey, where’s your lollipop?”

“Threw it away, sorry,” Sehun says sheepishly and yelps when Jongin tries to trip him. “What, you know I hate that stuff, you can’t force me to like it,” he mumbles, rubbing his sore ankle.

“If I had a stick with me right now I’d whack you with it, but my arms are full.”

“Oh yeah, right,” Sehun chuckles. “I almost wish you did, since it’d be a effective method to fend off spirits and scary monsters,” he adds and ducks just in time to avoid getting slapped in the side of the head with a can of Coke. “It’s true, you were frigging terrified, don’t bull me!”

“Yeah, right,” Jongin says with an eyeroll as he places the can back on top of the pile. “And no, as a matter of fact, I wasn’t,” he huffs, rolling his eyes again. Christ. “Look, why-”

“Right, cause you were sleeping during majority of it-”

“I wasn’t!”

“-and probably having nightmares about the witch on the wardrobe-”

“Shut it!”

Wiping his eyes, Sehun shrugs. “Can’t blame me, I could feel you shaking like a leaf when I held you,” he hums when he sees the cashier come into view. “So, that’s what they call a slapshot,” he mumbles when the silence grows a little bit awkward. “Gotta admit, it was pretty cool to see one up close and personal.”

Jongin shrugs. “I guess,” he says and jogs to keep up with Sehun’s long strides. “Could you walk a little slower please, I’ve got a load to carry here,” he huffs.

“You could slapshot a puck at ghosts and evil demons, you know, the ones in the movie,” Sehun says, nudging Jongin’s arm and cackles when the blond clenches his jaw in frustration. “You’d send them flying off into deep space!”

“Buddy, they aren’t the only things I'd like to send into deep ing space right now,” Jongin grits through his teeth.

“Get it?” Sehun asks, ignoring Jongin’s less than friendly remark. “Cause you were scared,” he adds, shooting Jongin a smirk.

“I swear to God, if I had a decent puck and a stick right now,” Jongin growls, “I’d slapshot that thing right into your goddamn groin, again.” He nearly chuckles when Sehun visibly stills. Serves him right.

Subconsciously covering his groin with his hand at the memory, Sehun suddenly smirks again. “How about you slapshot into my heart instead? Sounds much more inviting than my groin, if I do say so myself,” he says smugly and ducks again when Jongin’s palm comes flying towards his face without a warning. “Honestly, though!”

“You’re so ing corny, Sehun,” Jongin groans, although Sehun can sense a great hint of amusement in his voice. “Not to mention me doing that would definitely send you into a violent state of cardiac arrest, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Hell, in that case I'd much rather slapshot into your groin,” he adds before jogging up to the cashier and spreading his candy out across the counter.

Sehun only blinks before shaking his head in amusement and catching up with Jongin.

~~~