Chapter 5 : Pomegranate

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It had taken no less than six days for Jongin to tell Chanyeol what had happened in the tea shop, when Kyungsoo had been there. Six days of silent moping and pouting where Chanyeol was walking on eggshells, trying to get his best friend to talk slowly.

When Jongin had finally spilled it all, he was fidgeting on the sofa, playing with his fingers, thinking that Chanyeol would be exasperated with him somehow. But his friend only scooted closer and gave him an awkward hug because his limbs were too long and it looked more like he wanted Jongin to cuddle him than to comfort his best friend.

"The good thing about this," he said after a while,"is that you have nothing left to lose."

"What do you mean?" Jongin was bewildered by his nonchalance.

"You aren't planning on going back, I suppose? Like, ever."

Jongin pushed Chanyeol's head away, sulking.

"I can't. I feel so stupid."

"Well, then, if you think that you'll never see him again anyway, I'd say you should go ask him out."

Jongin turned to him, taken aback by his sudden comment.

"What the hell? Why would I do that?"

"If he says yes, you basically win at life. If he says no, well then, it won't change anything from your current situation, will it?"

Jongin had stayed silent after that, staring at his best friend for a while. He couldn't stop thinking about it for the next two days. He couldn't stop thinking about everything Kyungsoo also told him. And at some point, he decided they might as well be right. He was longing to see Taemin far too much and he had reached the point where he was feeling too upset to care. Even if Kyungsoo was wrong and Taemin rejected him, he thought that getting his heart completely broken would help him get some kind of closure, instead of letting it hang miserably in his ribcage, poor thing never stopping to hope like crazy.

It still took him a few more days to actually get down to business because the whole thing required a courage that he needed time to gather. He decided to go on a Wednesday because he knew Taemin worked during the afternoon and it was his own day off so after being rejected, he could just go home and cry all of his heart's content and he wouldn't have to go to work and deal with people. This was a very well thought out plan.

He even prepared his clothes accordingly. The weather was hot lately, and he was practically sure he would sweat from stress, so he absolutely had to go with a loose black tee-shirt, as he could not appear in front of Taemin with dark circles under his armpits, that would be the last straw of humiliation.

And so here he was, in his black tee-shirt, a few meters away from the tea shop, planted in the street like a damn tree, unable to move. Two high schoolers huffed as they got around him to continue on their merry way. But he didn't pay them any attention. His eyes were fixed on the tea shop's showcase ahead of him and he could feel his palms get moist. He kept telling himself he had to do this, that it couldn't go worse than it already was.

Jongin took a long inhale and rushed forward, almost tripping on his own foot, and pushed the door open. Then he froze.

"Welcome," came a cheerful voice.

It wasn't Taemin. It was a girl. Jongin stared at her with a bewildered expression. He saw the seller squint her eyes at him, before she bit her lips and stood very still.

"Um, hi...," Jongin finally muttered, closing the door behind him and going straight for the shelves of teapots on the right.

He wasn't even looking at them at all. He just stood there, eyes wide, his mind searching for what to do from now on because he didn't come to buy tea and he had prepared so hard and where was Taemin? He didn't think he could take it to go home now and come back another time.

Saerom tore her eyes away from the very nervous man who just entered, and discreetly took her phone out of her pocket, hoping he wouldn't turn around suddenly because she wasn't supposed to text at work and it would be quite disrespectful.

"I think Boyfriend is here. Hurry up!"

She kept glancing at the man, but he wasn't moving from the shelves and he didn't even look like he was checking anything. She finally saw him make a move towards her, but he quickly aborted the try and went back to stare at a white teapot. Then he made a move towards the exit, and went back to the shelf all the same.

"Ohmy! Keep him there at all cost please pleaSE PLEASE!!!"

Saerom smiled at the text she just received from Taemin and put her phone away.

"Sir, may I help you?"

She saw the customer almost jump out of his skin at her sudden question and he gave her a shaky smile.

"Ah. Hum-... well...," he stammered.

She looked patiently at him as he slowly made his way closer to the counter, chewing on his own lips.

"Actually I-.. hum... I have a question?"

As he stopped in front of her, she understood why Taemin was so smitten with him. The man was stunning.

"I'm here to help," she offered.

"Does-... Is-... Taemin still works here, right?"

Taemin had been there every single Wednesday afternoon since Jongin's very first visit and he just couldn't understand for the life of him why on earth he wasn't here that day. His brain was starting to think about all the worst case scenarios possible and he needed some reassurance that his adorable seller hadn't moved out of the country suddenly.

"Yes he is. He starts his shift soon, so he'll be there in a couple of minutes, actually," Saerom answered with a bright smile.

Jongin blinked a few times, and checked his watch. He surely came earlier than usual and his stupidity hit him hard.

"Oh. Oh... alright. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Jongin took a few steps back, standing there awkwardly, scratching his neck.

"Can I wait for him here?"

"Be my guest."

Jongin nodded and retreated back in front of the white tea pot he had been eyeing earlier. He let out a long sigh before he abruptly looked at Saerom again.

"I didn't mean to be rude. You look like a very nice seller. I'm just-... I have to talk to Taemin. About a tea. So... hum. Yeah."

She laughed lightly and shook her hand.

"No offense taken."

He thanked her and rubbed his hands together, looking around at the boxes he had seen thousand of times already. Each passing second felt like a whole minute of agony and he didn't know if he wanted Taemin to hurry up or never arrive.

The door opened and Jongin spun around, his eyes immediately getting caught by Taemin's bright smile aimed at his heart. At that moment, Jongin wondered how he could describe the feelings he had for this man, because he was one to believe you couldn't be in love with someone you barely knew. Yet here he was, feeling like he was floating on a pink little cloud very high in the sky.

It was the first time he saw Taemin in anything other than his working clothes and it was a whole new level of torments. Also his hair was freshly cut and styled backward and Jongin's knees went weak.

Taemin waved at his friend and colleague before approaching Jongin with a tentative smile.

"Hey...," he simply said.

"Hello," Jongin replied, and winced at his own awkwardness.

Taemin had a moment of doubts and questioning. He obviously didn't want to take Jongin out in the street to talk, but he also wasn't allowed to take him downstairs to the staff room. He was also supposed to take over his shift and he couldn't exactly ask Saerom to work extra time just so he could take Jongin in a secluded area to sort their lives out. They would have to talk as usual. With the damn counter between the two of them.

"I have to go change to replace my co-worker, but I really want to talk to you. Will you wait for me, please?"

Jongin didn't trust himself enough to speak for now, so he nodded. Taemin pleated his eyes at him as he slowly went backward to the counter.

"You promise you'll be here?" he insisted.

Jongin nodded again, a bit more eagerly, and Taemin smiled. He whispered something to his co-worker before quickly disappearing down the stairs.

Jongin did his best to not look at the seller still present because he was far too embarrassed. She excused herself at some point anyway, and went down a few seconds before Taemin appeared again. He was short of breath and sighed with relief as soon as he saw Jongin still standing in the exact same spot.

"So," he tried, forcing a smile on his lips.

Jongin fisted his hands and walked straight to him. His eyebrows furrowed in anxiety and he wasn't able to look Taemin in the eyes, so he focused his stare on his nose instead because Taemin's nose was very cute but less judging.

"Do you want to get out for a coffee with me sometime?" He said in one breath, his whole body tensed, before he added a weak : "… please."

At least he hadn't yelled or anything like that. His eyes darted higher and he saw Taemin looking at him in astonishment.

"I don't like coffee," Taemin quietly answered.

Jongin blinked. Out of all the possible outcomes, this was clearly not what he had imagined. But then the stupidity of the situation hit him as he pouted.

"Me neither, actually," he admitted.

Then Taemin let out a shaky and nervous little laugh that he quickly covered with one hand and Jongin wasn't sure how to react. This was getting completely out of hand.

"I'd love to get out for a tea with you, though... sometime. If you want," Taemin said, very softly.

Jongin's face brightened impossibly and his heart tried his best to waltz out of his chest and dive into the sun.

"Really?" he asked.

Taemin felt his cheeks redden just from that hopeful and delighted look Jongin was giving him.

"Yeah, really."

Jongin bit his lips to contain his wide smile. He scrunched his nose, and blinked a few times, and seemed to not be sure about what to do with himself.

"In a-... I mean, just to be sure... In a date-way, right? I was asking you out. On a date."

He knew it would destroy him if Taemin was saying yes only for him to find out later that the boy thought it was a friendly meet-up.

"Yes, please," Taemin laughed.

Jongin stood there, smiling like he was the happiest person on the planet, not knowing what to do or say next because his brain was struggling to get on with the fact that Taemin had say yes. Taemin hadn't rejected him. He wasn't about to go back home and cry on his bed. He actually got a date with Taemin.

"When could we do that?" Taemin insisted, with a giddy smile.

He had been waiting long enough and he needed some concrete plans. He wasn't about to let Jongin escape so easily.

"I-I don't know," Jongin stuttered. "I didn't think that far. I thought you would say no."

Taemin melted like snow on a sunny day. He moved behind the counter, going to the cash register and fumbled around for a few seconds. He found one of the store's card and wrote something on it before giving it to Jongin.

"That's my phone number. You can text me whenever you want. So we can decide about the details."

Jongin took the white little card and stared at the number in disbelief. Then he blinked and got his phone out of his pocket to save the precious information right away. He knew he would lose that card eventually, because he was a clumsy little person.

Then he straightened up again and here was Taemin, staring at him with dreamy eyes.

"I texted you...," Jongin muttered. "So you have my number too."

He knew it was safer, because he couldn't trust himself to be brave enough to message him first, later, and start a conversation. Taemin was about to answer, but stopped himself when he heard steps in the stairs. Saerom appeared, changed into her casual clothes, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry to interrupt, I'll be going now, Taemin."

"See you tomorrow."

"Yep," she came closer to ruffle his hair. "Don't flirt all afternoon, there's some work that needs to be done."

Taemin muttered something about her needing to shut up and Saerom only laughed and went to the door. She stopped as she opened it and turned around.

"By the way, happy birthday Taeminnie!"

Jongin, who had turned around, his gaze following the seller as she disappeared outside with a cackle, swung back so fast to Taemin that he almost wrung his neck. Taemin winced, his eyes closed in unease.

"It's your-...," Jongin stupidly whispered.

"Yes," Taemin admitted in a sigh.

He looked at Jongin with a pout, his cheekbones still tinted pink with embarrassment.

"Happy birthday!"

He tried to sound joyful but his voice cracked up due to Taemin's intense cuteness in front of him.

Taemin let out a light laugh and thanked him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I have no gift or anything...," Jongin suddenly breathed out, blinking rapidly.

He saw Taemin roll his eyes at him before a smirk appeared at the corner of his lips.

"You couldn't have guessed. Besides, you came here and gave me exactly what I wished for the past few months."

Jongin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but then it hit him and he bit his lips. Was Taemin referring to Jongin asking him out? Because Jongin hadn't done anything else since he came there. But it couldn't possibly be about this. That would imply Taemin having a crush on him for months. This couldn't be true. Surely it was something else. Jongin tried to tell his heart to calm down a bit but it wasn't very effective. It was far too difficult to breathe evenly when Taemin was looking at him with that teasing, smug look on his perfect face.

"A date with you," Taemin finally added when he realized the shock and turmoil wouldn't leave Jongin's face. "That's what I've been hoping you'd give me every time you came into the shop."

Jongin's eyes widened impossibly and he could feel the heat creeping up his neck, cheeks and forehead.

"Ah-... well... hum-...," he tried to articulate. And failed.

"I'm really looking forward to getting to know you," Taemin continued in a soft voice, as if he didn't realize each word he pronounced was making it harder for Jongin to stay sane.

"Me too," he managed to answer back.

They looked at each other and Jongin was starting to feel far too shy and awkward. He had no idea what he was supposed to do now because they already agreed on texting to decide the details of their date and he kept thinking he should let Taemin work. He also wasn't feeling confident enough to pursue a coherent conversation right in that moment and staying there just staring at Taemin, no matter how tempting, would be weird. He really wished he had Chanyeol's social skills. Chanyeol would know what to do.

"I hum-... I should go. Now. Let you work and-... all."

Taemin looked surprised. And a bit sulky.

"Already? Don't you want some tea? We received new blends, if you want."

Jongin smiled shakily and nodded. Tea would be a perfect excuse to stay, then. Of course it was. And he could look at Taemin a bit more.

"You do like tea, don't you?" Taemin hinted, his teasing smile back on his lips. "Don't make me believe you came here all the time just for my charming smile."

"I do like tea!" Jongin immediately defended himself, his lips forming an offended pout.

"Now I'll try not to get hurt by how fast you reacted to that."

Jongin scratched his forehead and decided to stop looking at the tantalizing little devil of a seller before he would do something stupid.

"Sometimes," he whispered, his gaze stubbornly locked on the tea container just above Taemin's head.

Taemin waited a few seconds, but when nothing more came, he frowned.

"Sometimes what?"

"Sometimes, I come just for your charming smile. On other days, it's a delightful bonus."

Taemin nibbled at his bottom lip, a pleased glint shining in his eyes. He had a little laugh of happiness and moved towards the wall behind him, taking one of the new teas they received the day before as to present it to his very favorite customer.

Taemin had been the first one to text. He actually sent a message to Jongin in the evening, after the tea shop's closing, asking if his afternoon went well. Then, they had started to talk lightly about their days and it was far easier for Jongin to make correct sentences and be at least a bit interesting when he could think about how to phrase his thoughts and he wasn't distracted by how plushy Taemin's lips always looked. That was, actually, until Taemin sent him a selfie.

When he had come home that night to find his roommate giggling on the sofa, texting like a crazy person, Chanyeol had been shocked. He had first presumed Jongin was chatting with Kyungsoo. Even if it was unusual for Jongin to be that excited over a chat conversation, it wasn't worrisome so far. That was until Chanyeol almost broke the Iron Man bowl as he was cooking, when Jongin whined very loudly in the living room. Chanyeol barged in, thinking his life was on the line, but his best friend was sprawled over the couch, a pillow pressed to his face, his feet hitting the armchair.

"What the heck?!"

"He sent me another selfie," Jongin cried out from under the pillow. "I'm gonna die!"

Chanyeol was very puzzled, and finally demanded some explanations. That's when Jongin realized his best friend was home and started to assault him with screeches about how he got a date with Taemin.

Chanyeol screamed and patted him in the back and spent three hours bursting multiples and random "I told you so!" in a booming voice, and ordered chicken because they needed to celebrate and his self-proclaimed “lame-” cooking wasn't going to be good enough. Monggu barked a lot that evening as he ran in circles in the living room, wondering why his owner and the tall human were dancing around and wrestling on the floor and yelling.

Kyungsoo had been delighted when Jongin broke the news to him. And he even sent a whole bunch of stickers through their chat once again, which he only did in very special occasions.

Taemin and Jongin texted for three days, their conversation staying light and funny as they mostly discussed about their days, complaining about the transports being crowded and the weather being too hot. Sometimes Taemin would throw some hidden compliments at him, or a selfie, and that would remind Jongin just who exactly he was talking to. Texting with Taemin also included lots of emoticons Jongin wasn't used to, and he had to actually ask Chanyeol a few times what those strange associations of letters and numbers meant because he was clueless.

It was finally on Sunday night, after already twenty minutes of discussing about the new superhero movie that was soon going to air in theaters, that Taemin sent Jongin yet another unfairly cute picture of him. He was pouting. Jongin chocked on thin air.

"Are we going to talk about it?"

Jongin blinked at his screen, nibbling his lips, wondering if he had forgotten something. But he couldn't remember anything and it made him very nervous. Also, he couldn't think straight with that picture still visible.

"Talk about what?"

He put a sticker of a curious looking bear and waited.

"Our date," came the reply.

Jongin winced at his own stupidity. How could he have actually forgotten about the date. They were supposed to talk about the details. Jongin was supposed to think about a place where he could bring Taemin.

"… you still want to go on a date with me, right?"

"Of course!" Jongin typed before he could think of something smarter to say.

It was intolerable that Taemin thought even for a second that Jongin was backing away from having a date with him. He really didn't want the man to think that he had changed his mind.

Taemin sent him another emotion that Chanyeol had explained was a smiling one, but Jongin wasn't sure to see any grin in that “6v6”.

Jongin tried to think of somewhere nice to take his crush; he really didn't want their date to flop because he chose a lame tearoom. On the other hand, he didn't know any, he didn't have that much experience in the dating area and all of this was making him extra nervous. At some point, he decided honesty would be better, and he admitted to Taemin that he really wanted to go on a tea date as the man had suggested, but he wasn't sure where to go.

"No problem!!! I know a really nice tearoom... Is it okay if I take you there or you wanted to choose a place yourself?"

Jongin typed a thoughtful answer that didn't convey the fact that he'd follow Taemin to the end of the world at this point in a too scary way.

After that, they exchanged a few texts over days and hours, and decided to settle for Tuesday afternoon. Jongin's heartbeats increased a lot when he realized he would have a date with Taemin in exactly two days and he still wasn't ready. He had no idea what to wear, what to talk about, what to do with himself.

"Can you give me the tearoom's address, so I can tell you when I'll manage to get there after work?" Jongin typed.

He then frowned and sat up on his bed, his head turning to his door as he heard Chanyeol knock the rhythm of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. Only Chanyeol would.

"Come in."

The door creaked open and Chanyeol's grin appeared.

"Hello there, my most beautiful and precious best friend in the universe," Chanyeol sing-songed.

Jongin rolled his eyes and put his attention back to his chat with Taemin. But his seller still hadn't replied.

"What do you want?" He asked his roommate.

Jongin moved a bit to the side to let his gigantic friend snuggle next to him.

"Are you busy?"

"Yes."

"Can you still help me with my modern literature homeworks anyway because you love me a lot?"

Jongin blinked and turned back to Chanyeol, eyeing him up and down.

"It must be particularly awful for you to ask so nicely."

Chanyeol let his head fall down on Jongin's shoulder with a sigh.

"Yes it is. Please save me before I start crying, you smart person who likes books."

Jongin snickered and ruffled Chanyeol's hair.

"Of course, just give me a minute."

His phone brightened in his hand with a text from Taemin, and Jongin immediately opened the application back. He knew Chanyeol was reading with him, but he didn't try to hide his conversation. They were on a safe subject. Nothing to be ashamed of in front of his best friend.

"Can I actually pick you up at your workplace? Please? Would that be okay? I'm curious about where you work. If you don't want though, it's okay."

Jongin blinked with surprise, and nudged Chanyeol in his ribs when his friend cackled.

"You are two lovesick puppies, for real. So concerned, so careful, so smitten. It's so sweet it gives me diabetes."

"You should shut up before I let you rot in your misery of modern literature, Park Chanyeol," Jongin muttered.

Chanyeol immediately straightened up in panic.

"No, please. I'm sorry. I meant it in a lovely way! Like... he's so soft for you I can feel it from here!"

Jongin grumbled something unintelligible, eyes focused on his screen as he typed away an answer. Chanyeol poked on his reddening ears with a grin.

"I don't mind at all. It's only fair, in a way... I already know where you work, ehe. I finish at 4pm."

Jongin sent the address of his shop and then began to push Chanyeol away with his feet, making him fall ungraciously on the floor.

"Gimme a few minutes, okay. I'll finish planning stuff with Taemin and I'll meet you in your room."

Chanyeol send him another one of his very large, sunny smile, and got up.

"Okay, boss. I'm gonna make myself a cup of coffee. Do you want a tea?"

"Yup. The green tea pomegranate. Let it infuse only two minutes, please."

Chanyeol scratched his head, but nodded and went away. Jongin fell on his pillows, biting his bottom lip as he read Taemin's last message.

"You work in a bookstore?! Nice!"

It was taking all the self-control and patience Taemin had within himself not to seem too over-excited in every single text he sent. It was almost unfair how Jongin's messages seemed so collected and normal while he was rolling everywhere and trying to keep himself from flooding him with his every thoughts. He was biting his fingers to not ask for a picture because Jongin didn't seem to take the hint and answer Taemin's selfies with one of his own.

Taemin breathed deeply to calm himself down a bit, and put his fingers around his cup of tea as he stared at his phone displaying his last texts with Jongin.

He really had to try to stay cool with this whole thing. He tried to tell himself not to get too overwhelmed before they even spent one hour together. But he had wasted so many weeks daydreaming about Kim Jongin that he didn't want to think about their date going anything other than absolutely fantastic.

Taemin hadn't been on a proper date in months, and it was even longer -far far longer- since the last time he had actually been so interested in someone.

"Please, be gentle and courteous. And nice. And smart," he murmured with a pout to the conversation that had gone silent after Jongin told him he had to go.

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Hi there!

(๑>ᴗ<๑)

How was this? Did you like it? I was seriously so excited to write this chapter & I hope it met your expectations. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Next chapter is gonna be all fireworks & rainbows, be prepared. But. Unfortunately, I have to say that I'm not sure I'll be able to post next wednesday. I got a bit late with writing because I'm currently pretty sick & I need rest & I still have to go to work... I will also be busy this week-end for Easter, so I'm afraid I won't be able to write a lot. I promise you I will do my best to give you the Taemnini date you so deserve as soon as possible, but please don't be too sad or upset if it has to come in two weeks. (ó﹏ò｡) I'm sorry.

On another note, I was at least able to work on my plans, and I just wanted to say that this fanfiction should be around 9 chapters long. So, it won't end after the first date... ... yup.

Finally, today's tea is "Green tea pomegranate" from the brand English Tea Shop. A really nice fairtrade & organic brand. This super sweet tea is a delight when correctly brewed... to me, it smells like cotton candy to be honest. But if I let it infuse more than two minutes, it's so bitter I cannot drink it ಠ_ಠ ...... be careful with this one, if you try it.

I wish you all a very good week & a nice Easter week-end. Please take care of yourselves & don't get sick (because it ).