Taemin looked at the ticket in his right hand.
He has a messenger bag slung around his shoulder, countless of papers sticking out. The blonde knew that he should get those home and sort them out, but he had decided against it.
Not yet.
He had stopped at his new university in the morning, getting himself signed in and receiving the same speech that probably every exchange student had to go through here.
The woman in charge was nice enough, but then again it was never really nice to deal with people in the public affairs offices. Taemin didn’t like to deal with too many people at the same time in general.
He was someone who saw two as fine and three as a crowd.
The fewer, the better.
That didn’t mean he was antisocial.
Not at all actually. He was outgoing and really friendly. Taemin just wasn’t fond of crowds and too many people.

Taking a first walk around the campus had been fine.
The students were already filling in, although the classes wouldn’t start until next week. It seemed like most of them wanted to settle in early just like the blonde exchange student himself.
After his mindless wandering around the enormous campus of Suncheon National University, which would be his home for the next two semesters, he figured that he should do a bus tour designed for tourists to get a better understanding of the town.
And that was what he had done. Buying a ticket for the local tour and driving around the bus for around one and a half hours, listening to a young male tour guide ramble on and on about sights and the history of Suncheon.

The thing was, Taemin hadn’t been able to concentrate at all. His eyes had widened the moment the tanned tour guide had stepped inside the bus, smile in place and brown locks dishevelled. He remembered his heart skipping a beat or two when the male’s soft and deep voice reached his ears, plucking all the right strings in him.
This guy had held his whole attention for the duration of the trip and he had learned next to nothing about the city he was going to live in for the next year.
And that was also why he was still standing at the bus stop where the city tour busses took off. The ticket in his hand had an obnoxious yellow orange writing scrawled over it, the letters bold and ‘artsy’ in the way they formed ‘SunCheon Sunshine’.
He had booked the same tour again.
Not even a week or a day later, no, just one hour and a half after the one he had originally booked.

Taemin knew he was crazy.
Nearly stumbling over his own feet, he had run to the ticket box to get yet another ticket for the bus tour.
Yet, it wasn’t for the tour itself or because he actually wanted to listen this time.
No.
As his mind short-circuited like that, he had seen it as the only possibility to see the damn handsome tour guide again who seemed to be around his age.
The moment he had handed over another 19000 Won he realised just how ridiculously stupid he was – but the money was already spent and Taemin would feel even worse if he lost his chance.

If the guide recognised him he would look utterly pathetic, but this was a risk he wanted to take. Maybe he could casually chat him up. Flirt a little?
Taemin usually did not belong to the shy type. But approaching the tanned guide would prove as a little more difficult than he had imagined.
For now, he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, awaiting the arrival of the bus again which seemed to be parked down the street while the employees were probably cleaning up after the messy guests.
Who even enjoyed throwing around their garbage in places like that?
But there were always people like that, no matter where you went, Taemin guessed.

Just like the last time, the actual tour in the SunCheon Sunshine Bus went over in a flash and without Taemin really listening. Again.
Well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t listening to the tour guides gentle voice... it was more like the words didn’t reach his brain. Again.
The blonde was too occupied to watch the male in the front of the bus, casually pointing out the most important sights and explaining some basic facts about them.
Just like the first time.
Which was roughly three hours ago by now.
The blonde let out a growl at the irony, and yet again, Taemin found himself debating on whether or not he was creepy, pathetic or ridiculous for booking the same tour twice on the same day just to get a prolonged look on the guide.
It was probably all of the above.
The exchange student actually did recognise some places from the round before, but most of the time his attention was elsewhere.
The worst thing was however, that he had already realised that the male with the microphone had already noticed him, and had recognised him.
There had been a shy smile and a wave after some curious and bewildered blinking. Yeah, Taemin understood where the male was coming from.
He wouldn’t believe this either.

But here he was.

The tour came to an end when the bus reached their original starting point again. It was close to the main railway station of Suncheon in Deogam-dong. But the blonde already dreaded the end as he had a hunch that the tour guide might want to chat him up.
Which was actually a good opportunity to get into a conversation with the attractive male, but it also meant that Taemin had to come up with a good explanation for why he was here twice in a row.
“Hey.”
The exchange student groaned in his mind as the tanned boy did exactly as he had predicted.
“Hi.” He answered, trying to act as nonchalant and relaxed as possible.
“I saw you boarding our tour twice. I am glad we let such a good impression on you!”

.
Taemin whined inwardly, this male had a wonderful smile and… his naivety made him even more endearing. Apparently he didn’t suspect any ulterior motives.
The blonde had never really thought that he had a type. But if he had one, then this guy fit it perfectly.
“Yes. It was very informative. Thank you. I just moved here for an exchange year and I wanted to get to know the area a little better?”
This did sound plausible. Just the fact that he did it twice in a row might throw someone off. Yet, the tour guide only grinned and bowed politely.
“Exchange student?”
Taemin nodded.
“Yeah, at Suncheon National University” he explained. He actually didn’t know if there were more universities here as he had only been interested in this one because of their established departments.
“Oh really?” the brown haired male who was still blocking him from leaving his seat blinked, but his eyes seemed to widen slightly at this.
Was this good or bad?
The male retreated a little then and bowed yet another time before he started to introduce himself.

“Kim Jongin. Student at Suncheon National University.”
The blonde let out a sigh of relief. Something good then.
“I’m just doing this over the holidays, saving up some money… you probably know the drill” the brunet continued his story and Taemin nodded in understanding. Part time jobs… he was quite familiar with those.
He usually helped out his aunt in their restaurant when he wasn’t studying or attending his home university in Seoul.
Students were poor.
And so they needed to work twice as hard, especially if they didn’t have rich parents who financed them.
“Lee Taemin. Exchange student at Suncheon National University, department of Sports and Leisure Science.”
That seemed to make the other’s eye shine.
“Really? What major?”
The blonde straightened his back. He was proud of what he was doing no matter how many people would tell him that it wouldn’t be a fruitful future he was facing.
“Dance.”

Jongin blinked at him. Yeah… that was a reaction he got a lot. No one really believed him when he said it. Why? He didn’t understand it either. It couldn’t be his exterior. He definitely had the physique of a dancer.
“No way!” he heard the guide chuckle
“Me too.”
Okay.
Now it was Taemin’s turn to blink in bemusement. That was definitely not an answer he had expected even though now that he thought about it, the other had the body of a dancer as well.
His dark eyes wandered over the body of the brunet, taking in his lithe frame and his nicely developed muscles.
His plump thighs…
Taemin had to swallow.
These were definitely not the kind of thoughts he should be having now. He knew next to nothing about this male, though he couldn’t help to admit that he would like to change that.

“You are majoring in dance too?” he just had to ask, to make sure he hadn’t misheard anything. The brunet shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand in a dismissive way.
“Kind of. It’s only my minor, my major is actually sports science to become a PE teacher” Jongin elaborated and Taemin found himself nodding.
That was still good enough for him – the blonde felt giddy out of a sudden, happy at the prospect of having found someone who might be as passionate about dancing as he is.
“I wanted to choose dance as my major… I did ballet for some years before, but my parents pleaded me to choose something that I can fall back to, if my plan fails. So yeah.” Another shrug of shoulder, yet the happy smile on Jongin’s face was not faltering.
Taemin couldn’t help but mimic it without really realising it.
“That’s actually a good plan,” the blonde agreed “maybe I should have thought of a plan B as well.”

They both started to chuckle and Taemin swore he saw the faintest blush on Jongin’s cheeks. It was adorable, blending in with his bronze skin.
“So uhm… do you want to hang out sometime?” the tour guide asked, his eyes flickering from the blonde’s face to the ground and back.
“I can show you around campus? And I can show you where you can practice”
Taemin found his heart skipping a beat.
“I’d love to!”

Those nineteen thousand Won he spent on the second ticket were definitely worth it.

They were lying on the floor of their favourite practice room, both of their chests heaving. The sound of their breaths bounced off the walls of the room as they try to fill their lungs with much needed air.
It took them a few minutes until they can even swallow, trying to calm their racing heartbeats.
“Damn” Jongin was the first one to speak up, his right hand coming up to ruffle his sweaty, unruly hair.
Taemin could only nod as he keeps on staring at the ceiling.
That had been good.
No, more than good actually. The blonde exchange student was absolutely satisfied and more than exhausted by now. But the outcome was worth everything.
“I didn’t think we would be able to pull it off, you know.”
Taemin winces as he tried to tilt his head, facing the male lying next to him with only about a foot of space between them.
If he’d reach out with his right arm just a little more, their fingertips would be touching.

“You underestimate us.” He hummed, swallowing again to stop his heart from racing out of another reason entirely.
It had been two months since he met the other – and basically two months since they became the best of friends and practice partners.
They choreographed dances together, helped each other with different step sequences and just supported the other when it was needed.
Taemin had never found someone with whom he could talk to so openly, who shared his interest in dance and who appreciated his teasing form of humour.
The blonde knew he could be too much, but until now Jongin was coping perfectly.
“Nah” Jongin chuckled, turning his head to lock gazes with him
“I know that you could do it. You are extraordinary! You memorise sequences too easily… I am really jealous!”
Pearly white teeth were seen, a perfect contrast to his skin and Taemin stared.
Stared at the other’s sharp features, his dark hair plastered to his sweaty forehead and how his eyes were formed into perfect crescents.
“You are talented too, Jongin” the blonde said, grinning. He meant that.
The other was b with talent and Taemin found himself blessed that he could dance with someone like him.
“Ballet really made you flexible” the elder snickered, wagging his eyebrows to underline his suggestive comment.
Even though he was completely smitten with the other was he still able to pull the younger’s leg. Hard.

Perhaps, he loved the other’s annoyed face a little too much.
“Shut up! At least I can pull it off. You’d look completely ridiculous!” Jongin tried to counter, but they both knew it wasn’t really effective.
Taemin chuckled anyway and shrugged his shoulders.
“I know.” He said, admitting defeat although he hadn’t been bested.
“Good.” The brunet pouted and, , the urge to lean over and kiss him was almost overwhelming at this point.
How would those lips feel against his?
Would Jongin even let him?
Taemin didn’t know and he found himself too much of a coward to find it out just yet.
Instead, he finally moved his hand to cross the distance between their bodies, linking their pinkies together.
The younger didn’t protest.

“Hey,” the exchange student started while looking at the ceiling again. The small connection between them felt good. Warm.
“Are you going to do the tour guide thing again during the upcoming holidays?”
Winter break.
Taemin had originally planned to go back to Seoul and see his family, but at the moment… he rather wanted to stay here though there were almost another 2 months till winter break.
“Yep.” Jongin answered
“There won’t be as many tourists as during summer, but why not. I need the money anyway.”
The blonde knew that the younger’s family wasn’t on the rich side, so he could easily understand.
“So if I want to hang out with you I need to buy another ticket?”

Their gazes met.

“It was already creepy enough that you did the same tour twice. Why ever you did that…” the brunet mused, but his eyes conveyed a sense of seriousness.
Taemin found himself swallowing at the intensity.

“Because I wanted to see you again. I thought we might… click?”

That caused Jongin to blink, obviously taken aback at that kind of answer. An adorable red blush spread on the younger’s cheeks as he averted his gazes, looking back at the ceiling but keeping his head turned to Taemin.
“Well… you don’t need to spend money to see me or join the tour then…”
The blonde felt the other squeeze his pinky with his own for the shortest of moments.
“I get special treatment? Because I am your new best friend?”
Jongin’s cheeks flared with even more heat as his body seemed to freeze up. At least did his grip suddenly feel tense.
The younger faced him again, his eyes half narrowed.
“No. Because I like you.”

Taemin stared.
For a moment, words were elusive to him and thoughts evaporated. His brain tried to process the meaning of what the brunet had said, of what they meant for him and what he was supposed to answer.
Answer, damn it!
“R-really?”
His eloquence was bloody brilliant. Taemin was utterly amazed by himself and wanted to hit his head against the nearest wall. Repeatedly.
“Yeah” Jongin breathed out
The other looked slightly scared, shying away from Taemin’s eyes and so the elder fought to get his composure back in check and intertwined their hands completely, their fingers weaving together easily.
“I like you too” he finally said and felt a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders.

Jongin’s shy smile he earned in return nearly caused his heart to burst.

“I know”
Okay. What?
“What do you mean??” Taemin blinked, looking at the other in utter bewilderment. He knew? What was that supposed to mean?
“No one would voluntarily book the Sunchon Tour twice. Consecutively. I knew from the start that you were either crazy or after my .”
When had Jongin found his inner sass?
Taemin could only stare in disbelief.
“I was not staring at your ! Or was after it!” he tried to reason but Jongin just smirked at him. And that was the last straw to break the camel’s back in the blonde’s opinion. He grumbled in the back of his throat before he let go of the younger’s hand in favour of rolling over and seal their lips together in a kiss that he had been craving for during the past two months.

It’s sweet – it’s intoxicating. Taemin found himself sigh into their lip lock until the younger pulled away again, smiling.
“See. I told you so.”

Taemin could only growl before he shut the other up with yet another kiss.
He had decided to demand a refund for the second ticket – Jongin totally deserved that for being a jerk.
But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

A/N: phew! That was probably my very first TaeKai only story that I have written? I really adore those two~~ hehe
This was originally prompted for the Colorful World fest and I immediately fell in love hehe the idea fitted them so well ;) I really hope if the Mods decide to do a Round 3 that I can join again ^^
(Please join too :P If you want more info, just hit me up!!)

Thank you for reading, thank you for the prompt and thank you L, for your hard work as always you make everything here possible!

xxx Blingdom