Soonyoung laid with his limbs spread across the bed. He was tired and needed sleep but he couldn’t help thinking about Seokmin’s wrist. That damned wrist. Did he really held it that roughly that Seokmin flinched? Granted it was already in bandage, but he could’ve been gentler had he known. Had he actually paid attention rather than just wanting to get it over it.

Was he actually that harsh towards the alpha? If it had been another member, he wouldn’t even bother to adjust the position and just point it out. Because they were only newbies after all. And it was only a standard training session. Damn it, he only wanted to act like strangers, not be rude. Because he wanted to forget about that night.

Maybe he was the only one who was bothered? Because Seokmin certainly didn’t seem like he did…

Come to think of it, aside from the finger heart that Seokmin threw at him during the first day, he really didn’t do anything else. Minus the constant staring. Maybe he joined the club just because he liked dancing? In that case, Soonyoung had been acting ridiculous. Seokmin didn’t even bother to try to talk to him during club hours so…

Soonyoung scratched his head roughly, feeling restless. Maybe he was mistaken when he thought Seokmin was trying to get his attention? Maybe the man call out to him during the first day just out of respect? Just like how he texted goodnight out of kindness?

Could it be… that he overthought everything?

Now he felt bad. Great.

...Because the man alpha didn’t even bother texting him eventhough he got his number. Obviously Soonyoung was the only one feeling paranoid.

He shifted again. His room really feels stuffy, more than usual. Deciding his body refuse to sleep because he wasn’t tired enough, he went out for a quick jog. Maybe even around the beta/alpha’s dorm right after circling the pond before sunrise. He might catch his crush running, if he’s lucky.

…Nope, his body was tired alright. Only halfway towards the park and he was already out of breath. Sighing he laid on the bench nearby. Summer nights are always hot and he hates it. Because he sweats easily so he needs to re-hydrate frequently.

Well at least now his head feels lighter. Time to go back.

Owh nice. Someone with a pink jumper just ran past him. Pink = that pink hair = Seokmin.

Great.

Well he needs his sleep one way or another so he will force himself if he had to. Maybe he can listen to his new Shinee album while sleeping. That would take some focus away from that guy. The sun was already peaking out but nothing the curtain cannot fix. Running back and taking a quick shower, he jumped on bed and pulled his blanket. He should get enough rest before his afternoon shift. And thanks to his short run, he snored right away.

*****

‘Congratulations to us!!! Mansae!!!’ The basketball captain cheered while holding the medal and shaking it. Other members popped some confetti while the other whistled and cheered. ‘Let’s eat a lot and regain our energy!!’

‘Let’s make a toast!’ One of his seniors suggested, eventhough they were only having soft drinks.

‘Then let’s have our MVP do it! Dokyeom!’ His captain called and everybody cheered. He stood up shyly, still finding it to be unrealistic.

‘Eyh… What should I say?’

‘Something motivational then geonbaei!’

‘Let’s not hurt ourselves next time and crush them?!’ He spurted out, half questioning. Everybody seemed to be satisfied with that, he thought, ‘Geonbae!!’

‘GEONBAE!!!’

‘Our Dokyeom was so cool!!’ Jooheon patted his back a little too hard, causing him to spill out his drink and coughed. ‘Imagine you without that bandage! They wouldn’t have stand a chance!’

Seokmin nodded shyly. He might have won that title but damn his wrist felt broken. He could swear he heard his bones clashing with each other, and his ligaments changing position, if that was even possible. He might need a cast. No, he wanted a cast. As weird as that sounds.

‘Hey, we’re gonna go to the arcade after this. You wanna join?’ Minhyuk asked near the end of the lunch celebration. Seokmin shivered just listening to that idea. His wrist throbbed as if in cue. ‘Maybe you should just rest. Take care of that wrist.’ His senior continued and Seokmin realized he was squeezing the said body part.

‘Maybe next time.’

‘Sure! Anytime bud.’

‘Wanna go for desserts instead? There’s a good cafe nearby. I heard they make the best sandwiches and homemade cake!’ the manager, Hani asked, and a few members nodded. ‘We’re skipping the arcade.’

Well who can say no to desserts, ‘I’d like that.’

*****

Soonyoung stared at the counter. The cafe was almost empty, minus to students who were studying in groups. It just pass lunch time so this was normal as they would become busier come tea-time. But it was still boring to just sweep around and maybe hear some juicy gossip of random strangers.

‘Welcome!’ He, and other staffs spoke in unison, automatically after hearing the first one from another worker. He heard a loud laugh from a girl followed by some laughs from different guys and looked up to see where they decided to sit. Not one of his assigned tables so he should be fine.

Having finished cleaning his space, he stood near the door and observed. The girl was still laughing her heart out with a funny laugh, making him curious as to what they were talking about. Some of the guys were already wandering around for something to eat while some of them opted to choose from the menu.

They were probably asking the staff for any recommendations and as usual, she stated the most popular desserts and pointed out the value plans. The laughing girl finally looked his way towards the direction his colleague was pointing - the poster he was standing behind, and he could not help but to admire the big eyes and soft-looking hair. Not always do they have such beautiful customers.

Following her gaze, the other guys also looked at the poster.

That one guy though, looked really familiar…

Lee Seokmin.

‘Aaah….!!’he quickly covered his mouth and hid behind the poster, pretending to reposition it. Why did he have to make that surprised sound??

Feeling himself raining sweat, he took a rag and rubbed the table nearest to him, bending more than he needed to, and making his way towards the counter slowly. There was a space near the return tray which was hidden from view, but allowed him to view the rest of his section. That was his final destination.

Finally feeling safe, he took a long, deep breath and wiped off his sweat.

The clock was ticking slowly and the customers were taking their own sweet time chatting the Sunday away. This was normal, and he usually do not mind the space but today was the first time he felt torturous.

And not because he was afraid to be seen by the alpha. Well, that too.

It was because Seokmin’s group’s conversation seemed very interesting with all the laughing, and if it wasn’t for the alpha, Soonyoung would be standing near the group just to hear what the fuss was all about. Some of his colleagues were pretending to sweep, and some pretended that standing still with a menu on their hand was a norm. He could see them holding their laugh, shooting each other glances, and he was so, so tempted to join them.

Finding the courage to look up at the group, he was greeted by the lady’s weird face. And a few seconds later, what seemed to be a continuous sneezing. Beside her, Seokmin was laughing with his eyes shaped like a half-moon, looking bright. The man ruffled the lady’s hair and continued eating. It reminded him of a particular memory he wanted to forget…

He quickly lowered his head again, trying to avoid being seen. He decided it was best to clean outside. The group seemed comfortable enough to not be leaving in a while, and at least he have something to do instead of just standing.

*****

Hani-noona was right. This place served the best sandwiches he ever tasted. And their Victorian Sandwich Cake tasted like home. Though he never tasted anything like that in his own. He bet his mom and grandmother never even heard of the cake before. It was nothing fancy, but he felt warm. Coming here was definitely better than resting at the dorm.

Speaking of home, his phone suddenly rang. His mom was probably curious about today’s result and was anxious enough to call him. Signaling to his friends, he got up to find a quiet spot, away from the loud crowd. Outside seemed good, he remembered seeing a swing-like bench at the entrance as a decoration. Hopefully the spot was not taken.

‘Mianhae…’ he nodded apologetically at the staff who was cleaning the bench. The guy jumped a bit when he walked out the door and Seokmin felt responsible for that. God knows why.

‘Eomma, yes we won…’ he answered calmly, trying not to sound too excited to avoid stimulating the already giddy woman. ‘Yeah… My wrist? It’s okay… I think I broke it though….’

He could hear a shocked scream from his dad in the background, and his grandma doing a prayer for him and instantly felt bad. He only wanted to tease his mother,’Ahahaa! Gotchu! I’m joking! I can still move it!’

The phone was passed to his dad and he regretted ever trying to joke about his wrist. There goes the lecture on how to reduce the swelling and the aftercare and what not. Leave it to his doctor dad for the boring conversation. Desperately trying to stop the blabbering, he stated, ever-so-loudly, ’Guess what? I’m the MVP!’

There, the conversation shifted to a better mood with everyone saying congratulations. He really need to keep In mind not to joke about his injuries in front of his dad.

*****

For a moment, Soonyoung thought his heart stopped. Seokmin suddenly got out of the cafe and he thought he had already been seen. Thankfully he wasn’t. And he wouldn’t want to take the risk of being discovered, but he just got out and it would seem really suspicious to his superiors if he return back inside. Sighing, he started to clean the tables, making sure to face away from Seokmin.

‘.… we won….’ Wow, he wondered what they won….

‘.…my wrist… broke…’ Soonyoung looked up to Seokmin’s arms and noticed the bandages around it, with some sticks on each sides. Probably chopsticks. Did he really broke it? Shouldn’t he go to a hospital instead of eating desserts and using chopsticks?

 ‘…I’m joking.…’ he felt himself sighed in relief. Suddenly realizing it was none of his business, he quickly finish his task so he can go back to the air-conditioned room.

Pushing the door, he heard,‘... I’m the MVP!’ and got inside. Impressive was what he thought when he heard the news, but once he remembered the ‘broken’ wrist, he was more than impressed. It was admirable. Who would have thought that Seokmin was a persistent man?

He spotted Seokmin’s group and decided to read what was written on their jacket. He did find it weird that they wore jacket in the summer but maybe a team jacket is another thing. Owh, basketball….

Everyone suddenly got up from their seat and was preparing to leave. Soonyoung tried to move to make way for them but found himself running away to his hiding spot when he heard Seokmin’s voice from straight from behind him. The alpha had probably just finished talking and he cursed himself for flinching and running for the second time in a mere minutes. He swore he saw the man making weird face at his action.

He took another deep breath and looked back at the man. He noticed that Seokmin wasn’t bad looking. In fact, when he had his hair up like today, he looks really handsome. Second in comparison to his Bag-of-Luck.

And he looked good in that team jacket. For some reason.

Soonyoung really need to stop thinking about Seokmin. He already made up his mind to not have any relationship with him after that night, and he seem to be forgetting that promise he made to himself.

With things going on smoothly with his crush, he really had no business with the alpha. The latter also seem to have forgotten about it.

He just need to make sure they no longer need to interact outside of club activities. To cut whatever there is left.

And that means finally returning the jumper he had held for months.

*****

Hey… Do you have time next week? I wanna return your jumper… - Hoshi☆

Seokmin almost jumped out of bed. He wasn’t expecting any message from his fox.

On weekdays, Tuesday and Friday evening. Sunday next week is also good :D

Okies, any place in mind? -Hoshi☆

He was about to write a reply when he remembered what he read about flip phones. It turns out, since they were texting each other through their phone number, they have to pay for each messages sent. Seokmin who usually use online messaging, only do so to text the man so it should not exceed the limit of messages which comes with his carrier plan. But the latter could only text, so he would have to pay for each and every one of them…

Can I just call you? -Lee Seokmin

For the second time today, Soonyoung felt his heart stopped. Why in the world would Seokmin want to call him? Should he just reject straight on? Or should he think of some excuse to reject it anyway?

I mean, cus you don’t have online messaging so it must be expensive to discuss these kind of things via text.. -Lee Seokmin

Owh… Phew. Again, he was just being paranoid. He really need to loosen up a bit with the alpha. Since the man was obviously not trying to do anything to him. And it was also his own fault for holding on to the jumper that long.

And what the other said was true. He really have to pay for the messages he sent, since his carrier plan only include a few hundred messages, and most of them he already use to text his crush. But that didn’t mean he agreed to have a phone conversation with Seokmin.

Bzz…Bzz…

Too late. Caught offguard and almost throwing his phone away, he cleared his throat and tried to calm down. ‘hEy.’ Well that was awkward.

‘Soonyoung-sshi? Hi! So…’ Okay, Seokmin also seemed to be awkward. There was this very long pause and Soonyoung felt himself starting to sweat. He needed to say something. Anything to fill that empty pause. Before he could spurt out some random words, he heard the other end cleared his throat and let go of his own breath. Soonyoung felt his jaw relaxing, he didn’t realize his whole body was tensed.

‘... cafe right? Do you have anywhere you wanna go? Anything you wanna eat?’

‘I-I… don’t really care…’ he stuttered. He freaking stuttered. ‘erm… you?’

‘Hrmm… Well there is this one place I know…’ Soonyoung listened attentively. Thank god Seokmin had a suggestion, ‘…that have really good sandwiches! I like their cake! Have you ever had Victorian Sandwich Cake? It’s like a plain vanilla cake with jam in between.’

Owh god no. Anywhere but there... ‘It sounds simple but it tastes really good. I promise!’

‘Aah I’m on a diet! I’m cutting on desserts!’

‘Owh really? Well… should we go and eat something healthy?’

‘What about ramen?’ Really Soonyoung? Of all the things, ramen was the only one that came to mind? It’s not even healthy and you were supposed to be on a diet!

‘Ramen is a bit…’ Soonyoung couldn’t agree more. Eventhough it was his suggestion. ‘But if that’s what you want….’

‘I mean cake! No, bakery! I think I saw some good patissier somewhere,,,’

‘Owh? Okay. Whatever suits you…’

This is why Soonyoung hates phone calls. Because he has to answer right away and he gets all panicky and will speak random, thoughtless words. ‘Urmm… Lemme think bout it then I’ll text back.’

‘You sure?’

‘Yup!’ He noticed he was nodding aggressively, as if trying to convince the man on the other end, and stopped, feeling stupid. He hang up, and scrambled to the internet to search for the nearest cafe with good food, And hopefully, cheap, There were a lot to choose from but the atmosphere of the cafes are a bit too girlish for two guys.

Damn... he never had to do research like this in all his 20 years of life. All for a freaking cafe,

To be continued…

A/N

*takes a deep breath* So what do you guys think of this chapter? Hoshi is definitely starting to feel something, although just a little bit.

And obviously Seokmin was a bit slow. But don't worry, he'll start doing something from the next chapter. And make a huge step later on. *winks*

*EVIL LAUGHS*

Anyways, as always, for those who upvoted, and subscribed, thank you and welcome!!!!

Please continue to show your love and support <3<3