Chapter 4 : Nectar Enchanté

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Kyungsoo had planned to arrive in the evening of the 4^th of July. Apparently, his mother hadn't been that pleased, as he was supposed to see Jongin from the 5^th to the 7^th, but because the prices had been a lot cheaper on the 4^th, she had to let it go.

Jongin had spent almost a week preparing, yelling at Chanyeol to tidy up after himself, and cleaning the place from floor to ceiling so it would be nice enough for Kyungsoo's arrival. If Chanyeol had found it funny at first, and cute after two days, it was becoming to be really annoying after five days of that masquerade.

"Oh my god, Jongin, we're not welcoming a damn king. I'm sure your friend can survive in there if the floor isn't spotless under the damn couch."

Jongin had apologized and pouted a lot, and because Chanyeol was weak to his best friend's sulky face, he had ended up cleaning the bathtub and the toilets.

But on the eve of Kyungsoo's arrival, Jongin had been all shaky again, complaining that the sheets he was supposed to give to his friend weren't clean enough and smelled funny despite having been washed the day before. That's when Chanyeol had truly given up.

"Okay, what's the matter with you?"

His eyes were fixed on Jongin's fidgeting figure and his best friend scrunched his nose.

"There's nothing with me. It's the bedsheets. They really smell dirty."

Chanyeol squinted at him, taking the sheets from his arms and taking a long inhale in them.

"They smell like fresh lavender because we have a fresh lavender laundry."

Before Jongin could argue back, Chanyeol put the bedsheets back in his hands and crossed his arms.

"So now that we cleared the fact that those smell clean, what's the matter with you?"

Jongin blinked a few times before his eyes lowered to his feet.

"I'm okay."

"So what's the matter with Kyungsoo? Please don't tell me there's nothing wrong at all because you've been acting like clean-freak Minseok all week so just spill it out."

Jongin looked hesitant and soon started to nibble at his bottom lip.

"Well," he started in a breathless voice, as if he had just ran a marathon. "You know... It's just-... I'm a bit anxious."

"I would have never guessed," Chanyeol mocked in an ironic tone.

"I'm not used to this."

Chanyeol suddenly frowned, looking him up.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not used to having friends coming over. I'm not used to having friends, period. Do you remember being my only friend? Last time a friend came to sleep at my place, it was you before we moved in together. And it was like... you, you know. Years ago. So I'm just... nervous because I don't know what to expect and I'm a weirdo and I'm scared of making him uncomfortable because all of this was a brilliant idea before I remembered we only saw each other once and I have as good social skills as a bear. And bears are solitary animals, okay. They live alone for most of their lives, unless they need to reproduce. I won't even reproduce because I'm gay so I was supposed to be a gay bear all alone forever but suddenly I got this-... this penguin friend, and penguins are very socials and they live in colonies-..."

He suddenly stopped his rambling when he felt Chanyeol take the bedsheets out of his arms to put them on the couch, before he laid his large hands on Jongin's shoulders.

"Jongin, breathe," he simply said with that calming voice he used to help Jongin relax.

His best friend had that lost and worried expression on his face that Chanyeol knew too well. Jongin wasn't usually babbling that much. He was a quiet person. To have him chattering without stopping was making Chanyeol dizzy.

"I'm sorry," Jongin breathed out pitifully.

"Don't be. You know I'm never really upset with ya'. I just need to grumble often."

Jongin nodded, but it wasn't really convincing, as he was still deeply frowning with anxiety.

"I'm the one who's sorry because I didn't realize how you could feel," Chanyeol continued. "Do you want me to stay with you when Kyungsoo comes? Would it be easier?"

"No, it's okay," Jongin winced. "Please don't cancel your romantic week-end for my pathetic ."

"Your is not pathetic," Chanyeol immediately countered. "Even literally."

That took a snort out of Jongin.

"About Kyungsoo, it's gonna be okay. And you know that. You're always rambling about how easy and comfortable it is to talk to him, to the point I'm jealous of him sometimes so, it's gonna be okay. I'll always be one phone call away if needed."

"Thanks," Jongin sighed.

"I know it's difficult for you, but Jongin, you need to try to communicate when you're not feeling okay. Like, just talk to me. Really. Instead of working yourself up for days and forcing me into ing at you."

Jongin mumbled a non-committed "I'll try" and Chanyeol patted his head before going back to sit on the couch, his computer on his legs.

"For real, you were so on edge all week I was starting to think you actually had a crush on Kyungsoo or something."

Jongin froze, eyes widening as he looked at Chanyeol as if an antenna just sprouted out of his skull.

"What the hell! I'm not developing crushes on every single guy around, now," he complained, starting to fold back the bedsheets correctly. "I'm all about Taemin. There's only Taemin in my heart. Don't be an idiot. A crush on Kyungsoo. That'd be weird."

Chanyeol stayed silent and motionless as he hid behind his computer screen but his eyes kept following his friend. Jongin was going back and forth in the living room all over again, whining about being devoted to his tea shop seller and not being fickle. He was muttering about bears again and wolves and penguins, and Chanyeol couldn't help but quietly laugh at his antics.

As soon as Kyungsoo set foot in their apartment, it didn't matter anymore to Jongin, how inexperienced with friends he was. He had gone to pick him up at the trains station, and really, it had been only joy and excitement of seeing each other again. They had giggled, talked over each other a few times because there were so many things to say, and then stayed in a comfortable silence as Kyungsoo was taking in the sight of everything and everyone around. Even as they settled down in Jongin's living room, he felt calm. Chanyeol was supposed to leave only on the next day, so he could still meet Kyungsoo and they had a lovely dinner, all three of them, chatting the night away.

Jongin had taken two days off to enjoy his friend's company and they found themselves at three o'clock in the morning, still talking on the couch, eating fried fishes. It was so much easier to communicate face to face, as they could finally talk freely in Korean, instead of using a mix of three languages.

Even when the discussion died down, even when Chanyeol left on the next day, even when they went out to visit some nice places in Seoul, or stayed inside to relax, Jongin didn't feel any anxiety again. As they were sipping on two very nice cups of French tea Kyungsoo had brought him, Jongin realized that it all felt natural. It was Kyungsoo, and he always felt calm around him. It was the person who got his back and understood him even when a dozen of countries were separating them. There was no need to be nervous around Kyungsoo. His friend always spoke his mind, and that greatly helped. Jongin didn't have to overthink everything and question every single one of his decisions, because he simply knew that Kyungsoo would tell him if something was wrong. And he was never mean while doing so. This was something Jongin really admired, as he struggled so hard to express himself when he was feeling unwell.

"So," Kyungsoo said, sitting on the chair in the small kitchen.

"Mhm?"

Jongin was cleaning the dishes and didn't turn completely to him.

"Can we go to your tea shop today?"

Jongin straightened up, looking at him with surprise.

"Uh? Yeah, sure..."

Kyungsoo had a small smile playing on his lips.

"I'd like to get more of one of the tea you sent me, and maybe discover something new. Also, I'm just really curious about your famous crush. Is that okay?"

Jongin rubbed his hand on his neck, and nodded. He had blabbered so much about Taemin to his friend that he couldn't exactly blame him. Chanyeol had been curious too. And he was pretty sure Kyungsoo wouldn't do anything embarrassing because he was a decent human being.

"It's okay," Jongin answered. "But I don't know if Taemin will be there today..."

Kyungsoo's eyebrows rose on his forehead, but he shrugged.

"Oh, well... I'll cross my fingers then. Even if he's not, I'd still like to buy tea, so we won't go for nothing."

They stopped by a few other shops on their way to Taemin's tea shop. Kyungsoo saw a supposedly French bakery and had been too tempted to take a peek, so they came in. It turned out that they made some mistakes in their French texts all over the walls, and their croissants were awfully expensive.

But whatever they did, wherever they ended up, Kyungsoo always had that gentle look of interest on his face. Like just being out there in the streets with Jongin was enough to content him.

"It's here," Jongin whispered as they slowly made their way to his very dear tea shop.

He opened the door for his friend and Kyungsoo entered, immediately taking a long inhale of the delicious scent floating around.

"Wow," he murmured.

Kyungsoo's eyes fell on the seller behind the counter, who greeted them with a cheerful voice. Taemin looked a bit surprised when he noticed Jongin, standing behind that new customer. It was the first time he ever came with someone else and Taemin couldn't help but wonder who that person was. He was quite small compared to Jongin and was looking everywhere with a blank face.

Kyungsoo went away to look at all the cups and teapots and accessories they showed off on their shelves and Jongin was quick to follow, standing close to him. So close that it made Taemin wince.

There was a heavy rock in his stomach that took a pout out of him. Jongin was the highlight of his weeks. Jongin was his own personal sunshine. Jongin didn't even came on his usual days that week, and suddenly appeared with an unknown boy, barely waving Taemin, and not even paying attention to him. And it was bothering Taemin. A lot. It made him nervous. Jongin didn't even asked him how he was. He didn't came by the counter. He just stayed glued to that tiny friend of his.

"That's him?" Kyungsoo whispered in French, stealing a side glance at Jongin who was fidgeting by his side.

Jongin only nodded. Somehow, coming here with Kyungsoo made him shaky. It was different. As if he was waiting for his friend's judgment. The whole tea shop seemed smaller than usual, Taemin looked even more dashing than any other day, everything was overwhelming and he wasn't sure how to act with Kyungsoo in the equation.

Jongin was still so very glad that Kyungsoo was discreet enough to speak in the lowest voice possible, in another language. So much consideration.

"He's cute," Kyungsoo murmured with a gentle smile.

Jongin let out a long breathe he hadn't realized he had been holding, and laughed as quietly as possible.

"You say cute, I call him the purest and most magnificent being that ever graced the earth."

Kyungsoo chortled, shaking his head at his friend.

"You learned such fancy French words only to describe him to me?"

"Maybe, yes. I can describe him as the most perfect man in the world in four different languages."

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at him, but he was still smiling fondly at Jongin.

"Okay Romeo, let's go ask the love of your life for my tea, please."

Jongin scrunched his nose with a giddy smile and turned away to approach the subject of his very tender affection.

He frowned a bit when he saw Taemin standing very still behind the counter, his eyes turned to the cash register but seemingly unfocused.

"Hi Taemin," he greeted, tilting his head.

The seller blinked a few times and straightened up, a blush creeping on his cheeks as he nodded mechanically to him.

"Hello," he answered.

Jongin pouted as his formal tone.

"Are you okay?"

Taemin put one fisted hand in front of his mouth and coughed lightly to give himself some confidence.

"Sorry," he tried again with a shaky smile. "I was dozing off. Hum... what can I help you with today?"

Taemin could feel Jongin's friend's eyes watching him with such intensity that it wasn't helping the jittery state he was in. But Jongin smiled at him, and everything else was forgotten for a second.

"That's Kyungsoo," Jongin introduced, pointing to his friend. "He's my dear friend from France, the one I bought tea for, you know? He wanted to buy some more."

Taemin's mouth opened in a circle as he finally tore his eyes away from Jongin.

"I really liked the tea you told him to buy for me," Kyungsoo said as a greeting. "Thank you a lot."

He bowed to Taemin slightly and the seller stood awkwardly for a second. It took him a minute to digest the fact that Jongin's French friend looked, in fact, Korean, but then he bowed even deeper than Kyungsoo.

"You're very welcome. That's my job after all. Thank you for the tea you two offered me."

Kyungsoo assured it wasn't a problem at all, and finally made his order. Jongin looked at the both of them chatting, he looked at Taemin giving some advices to Kyungsoo, he looked as his precious seller was making the bags, ever so professionally, and he kept asking himself why he seemed so shaky.

Taemin was avoiding his eyes and Jongin didn't miss the redness on the top of his ears. He wondered what made him so edgy. Maybe Taemin was embarrassed to have been caught getting lost in thoughts during work. But then Kyungsoo paid, and Jongin said he would come back next week as he extended his hand to get the shopping bag standing on the counter, and it happened.

Taemin took a sharp inhale and bowed again.

"Thank you. Have a nice day," he said.

Jongin froze on his spot. His fingers hadn't quite reached the handle of the bag. He heard Kyungsoo's little exclamation of surprise. And then there was silence. All colors drained from Jongin's face as his eyes widened.

It had been Taemin's voice. Speaking a few words of French. Enough for Jongin's heart to stop.

Taemin wasn't supposed to speak French. Taemin had never mentioned speaking French. Jongin had no idea Taemin even knew one single word of French. Jongin could have thought that maybe, he only knew those very few words. Maybe he only learned them for international customers. But Taemin's trembling and nervous posture made it impossible for Jongin to hope that maybe, just maybe, his seller hadn't understood the damn love confession he had made when he first entered the shop.

Taemin opened his mouth again, but before he could say anything else, Jongin jolted out of his traumatic state, grabbed the shopping bag, Kyungsoo's wrist, and stormed off.

His heart was hammering against his ribcage as if trying to break free and he was almost running in his will to get as far away as possible. After a moment, Kyungsoo tucked at his sleeve and forced him to stop. They were a few blocks away from the disaster already.

"Jongin?"

He didn't answer. One hand coming on his eyes in a poor attempt to hide his distress. Kyungsoo rubbed his back gently.

"Let's go home," Kyungsoo simply said as he pushed him towards the nearest subway station.

The journey back to Jongin and Chanyeol's apartment had been deadly silent. Jongin kept looking at his feet with that mortified expression that broke Kyungsoo's heart, but he decided to let him have some peace and not bother him for now. Not in the subway. Not surrounded by strangers in a place Jongin didn't feel comfortable in.

When they got back home, Jongin took off his shoes and fell face first on the sofa, limp. Kyungsoo sighed and went to the kitchen. Jongin absentmindedly heard him shuffle around, he heard the kettle go on, then more rumbling. Kyungsoo came back to the living room to see his friend's beloved poodle curled up next to his owner's face, sniffing his hair and trying to get his attention for some petting. Kyungsoo sat next to them, and put two hot cups of tea on the table.

"I made your green tea with yellow fruits and vanilla. Please sit up, drink and look at me."

Jongin grunted but stayed still. Kyungsoo tapped on his head, and waited. It took Jongin a couple more minutes before he let out a long sigh as he moved to sit. He took one mug into his hands, letting the warmth heat up his palms and ease his heart just a little bit as Monggu came to sit on his lap.

He still couldn't look at Kyungsoo.

"It's really not as bad as you seem to think," Kyungsoo said.

Jongin flinched, and turned to him.

"I'm sorry? It's a damn catastrophe."

Kyungsoo bit his lips, but shook his head.

"I don't think so."

"I accidentally confessed having the biggest crush ever on him in a language he clearly understood. Please tell me how this isn't a disaster to you."

"Well, I won't deny that he seemed to understand French more than what he was able to say. But you still used some fancy words..."

Jongin snorted and hid behind his mug.

"You called him the love of my life and I didn't deny. I think those are pretty simple words to get if you can say “have a nice day” in French."

"I'm sorry about that," Kyungsoo murmured, with a pained face.

Jongin glanced at him. He wanted to say something to take that guilty expression off from his face, but his heart was too heavy right now to comfort anyone else. Instead he let one of his hand fall on his dog, his fingers its fluffy fur.

"Still...," Kyungsoo continued, "I thought his reaction was actually quite encouraging."

Jongin's eyebrows furrowed and his bottom lip moved forward in an hopeful pout.

"How so?" he asked quietly.

Taemin had looked nervous. Even uncomfortable. Jongin didn't see anything to be optimistic about in the way Taemin hadn't been able to look at him. He must have embarrassed him so much. Taemin must be so annoyed and disgusted with him by now.

"I think if he had been offended, he would have made it clear, maybe scowl at you. Or maybe he wouldn't even have spoken French at all, so you wouldn't know he understood. And then, avoid you or put more distance between the two of you. Instead he was blushing the whole time. And when he spoke French, it was actually to be nice and say thanks. It's like-... I don't know, there are many possibilities, but none of them seem actually bad to me. Maybe he wasn't sure that he understood everything and wanted to see your reaction. Maybe he was too shy with me around. Maybe I don't get it because it's some purely Korean-culture thing, but from my perspective, he seemed bashful... but on cloud nine. Even before, when we entered, he looked at you as if you were the damn sun. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that he has a crush on you too."

Jongin curled up on himself, and hid his face against the dog still wiggling on his thighs. Kyungsoo was making a lot of sense. It sounded so right and likely. But the shame and anxiety that were clawing at his heart wouldn't let go and he sighed.

"I don't know," he admitted in a tired voice.

He didn't want to think about it right now. He didn't want to let his mind wander for hours again, because he was exhausted of overthinking things.

"You don't have to take any decision right now," Kyungsoo simply answered. "I wanted to stop you from thinking you ruined everything because I honestly don't think you did anything like that. What can we do to help you relax for now?"

Jongin turned his head, his cheek resting on the warm, fluffy back of his poodle, and he looked at Kyungsoo. For a moment, he only looked at him in silence, as if it was the first time he really saw him.

"I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you," he murmured.

Kyungsoo smiled at him; his squishy, adorable smile that made Jongin smile weakly in return.

"Being yourself. That's what you did. You're a truly good person, Kim Jongin."

Jongin avoided his stare and got his tea cup, taking a sip to calm down. There was something soothing about Kyungsoo. He was like a cup of warm tea, really.

"I don't feel like going out again," Kyungsoo declared. "What do you think about showing me Jurassic World like you promised you'd do but didn't, yet ?"

Jongin grinned and nodded.

"Sure."

He brought some snacks from the kitchen, and they sprawled over the couch for a movies marathon in the middle of the afternoon. Watching movies with Kyungsoo included far less stupid comments than watching a movie with Chanyeol. Kyungsoo was totally focused on what was happening on the screen, didn't yell after the characters, but snorted and laughed once in a while. And he made a complete commentary on what he thought about said movie at the end of it.

They went out again in the evening to give Monggu a little walk, and eventually brought some take-away food back home. Kyungsoo was supposed to go back to his family in Busan on the next day, so they enjoyed their very last night fully, talking until morning.

They promised each other to try to meet soon again, even if none of them could tell when it would be.

Taemin had waited. He had waited all afternoon for Jongin to suddenly come back to the store and say something. Anything, really. But he didn't. As Taemin was forced to close the little tea shop, his heart had felt so incredibly heavy. There hadn't been many customers on that day, giving him far too much time to mop on his counter, think back on how badly he had handled the situation and what he could have done instead.

Taemin had waited all week for Jongin to come back, as he had promised. But he didn't. With each passing day, Taemin couldn't help the painful disappointment and slight distress that swallowed him up as he left at the end of his shifts.

It grew worse, and worse. The crazy hope he got every time someone entered the shop and made the little bell ring continued to get crushed into frustration, because it wasn't Jongin. It never was Jongin. It hadn't been two weeks yet, and sometimes, his most favorite customer hadn't come in for more than that, because he was busy. But he had promised, and yet he wasn't there, and Taemin cursed himself.

The thought that he might never see him again was leaving him in such anguish that he was trying his hardest every morning to push it away and let himself hope.

Taemin had hoped for months that Jongin would make any kind of concrete gesture towards him. Anything, for Taemin to jump on. Anything letting him dream that maybe, Jongin wasn't straight. Maybe Jongin found him pretty enough. Maybe Jongin was interested. There had been hints, so many of them actually. Very, very soft, longing looks and blush on his cheeks and sweet comments. But nothing consistent enough for Taemin to convince himself he wasn't imagining them.

Until last time.

Until Jongin was whispering into his shop that he found Taemin perfect. And for a moment, Taemin had thought he was dreaming because this couldn't possibly be happening. He wasn't even sure he had correctly understood. The two friends had been so quiet, speaking a little too fast for Taemin to get everything with his poor French skills.

"Are you okay?"

Taemin gave his colleague a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine," he answered.

Saerom pouted at him and rubbed her hand on his arm.

"You seem so sad lately. You're always staring at the door with blurry eyes..."

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Just tell me if I can help, okay?"

Taemin relaxed a bit, and nodded. He went past her, going down the stairs to the back rooms. He went to his cloakroom, putting his uniform away and changing back into his casual clothes. As he closed his locker, he frowned, and quickly got back to Saerom.

"Hey... did you-... did you get a male customer lately?"

Her colleague pinched her lips, pleating her eyes at him.

"You'll have to be a bit more specific, Taeminnie."

He let out a nervous laugh, scratching his forehead.

"Yeah hum... He's-... tall," he said, putting one of his hand a bit higher than his own head to show up approximately Jongin's height. "And he's-... handsome. Like, really. Caramel skin. Sleepy, beautiful, deep eyes with long eyelashes. And pouty mouth."

He was blushing by the end of his little speech and Saerom was looking at him with a smug grin.

"Uh-hu. Are we talking about Boyfriend?"

Saerom was really more than a colleague. She was a friend. They had worked together for five years already and even often went out together. At some point, she had figured out about Taemin's uality.

A few months ago, Taemin had told her about that gorgeous customer who kept coming back to steal his breath away. She had been referring to him as his boyfriend customer and sometimes asked for updates about their non-existent relationship.

Unlike Taemin's other friends, she actually understood how he couldn't blatantly ask Jongin out so easily. Because this was his workplace. And he didn't want to get into troubles if he ended up offending the man.

"Yes, we're talking about him," Taemin painfully admitted, his eyes falling on the ground. "He didn't came back and uh-... It was after I said something... so-... I'm scared I screwed up. I wanted to know if he maybe showed up when it wasn't me, you know."

The smile on Saerom's face faded away. Taemin's whole sorrowful and pathetic behavior was making sense now.

"I see," she whispered. "I don't think I saw him. I would have remembered someone like that, I suppose."

"Yeah," Taemin said with a bitter laugh. "It's difficult to forget him."

Saerom came closer and his hair gently with a comforting smile.

"Maybe he got busy. Maybe he couldn't afford more tea for now," she tried to offer. "Anyway, I'll let you know if he comes by on my shift, okay? Don't get all gloomy, I'm sure you'll see him again."

Taemin didn't have the strength to argue more. He didn't want to explain everything that happened, and he didn't want to discuss all of that at work. He didn't want to admit that Jongin had already come a few times without buying anything so the problem surely wasn't a lack of money. He shrugged, thanked her for her kindness, got his things and wished her a good afternoon.

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Hey everyone!

So, did you like having Kyungsoo there? Did you expect something like this to happen? uhu. (￣ω￣)
I feel a bit bad for leaving you hanging like that... but stay on board one more week, Taemnini is about to sail!
You might have noticed I'm a huge fan of pining. I love those moments where they long for each other and go crazy with feelings, no knowing if it's mutual and dying slowly and hoping and wondering. ♥♥ Ilovetosuffer. Anyway, your devoted author will give you what you want now, don't worry. ʕ￫ᴥ￩ ʔ

You can leave me some comments / complaints / wishes down there to help me get on with my week. I wish you all the best until next wednesday.

Also, today's tea is Nectar Enchanté, from the organic french brand "Les Jardins de Gaïa". A wonderful brand, with very tasteful teas. This one is incredibly soft and sweet, a green tea with peach, apricots, mango & vanilla. It's super comforting when warm, but also super refreshing when cold, during the hottest days of summer. ♥ In this chapter, Kyungsoo makes it for Jongin when he's moping over Taemin, but it's also actually the tea Baekhyun offered to Jongin in the first chapter :)) and the one that Nini liked the most.

I also just want to say, it makes me super happy to read that YMCOT makes you want to try new teas. If you guys also have recommendations for me, shoot it!

bye-bye (*￣Ｏ￣)ノ