Chapter 7 : Hyeonmi-nokcha

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"… and then, we talked about books. For I don't even know how long," Jongin sighed, his eyes shining with happiness.

He was sprawled over the couch, his feet resting on the coffee table in front of the TV. His arms were spread wide, and his head was resting against the wall behind him. He had a dreamy grin playing on his lips as he narrated his whole date with Taemin to Chanyeol. His best friend had hung himself to his leg as soon as Jongin had went through the door that evening, whining and begging for a report in excruciating details. Those had been his words.

Jongin hadn't been sure about sharing everything, especially right away, because some part of him wanted to keep it all as a precious treasure. But Chanyeol insisted and Jongin was giddy with joy; the idea to revive every moment excitedly with his best friend was kind of appealing. So here they were. Chanyeol was sitting next to him, his long legs folded against his chest, one hand lost in some extra large bag of crisps, big round eyes glued to Jongin, drinking every word Jongin spoke.

"And then?" Chanyeol shakily breathed out.

"It was just-... it was perfect. He kept telling me about his favorite books, and he had so interesting opinions on writing styles. And we didn't read all the same things, and he said he would give Dostoevsky a try if I like him that much and he was so open and patient, and he said he would ask me for books recommendations. And I'm so damn happy."

Chanyeol munched on another handful of crisps.

"I'm starting to believe in soulmates for heaven's sake," Chanyeol grumbled. "And then what?"

Jongin laughed at his idiotic comment, but couldn't find it in himself to even try to argue. He was too high on cloud nine to care. So he told Chanyeol about how Taemin learned French, and that they talked about their friends. He didn't share any personal detail about Taemin, but confessed all the subjects they spoke over. Chanyeol rolled on the sofa when Adam and Eve were mentioned, he started to scream that they were meant to be and then got up to pick Monggu from Jongin's bed.

"Monggu deserves to know about his future brothers-in-law," he exclaimed as he squished the poor poodle against his chest with a beaming smile. "You're gonna have brothers! Yes, you are! Brothers for you! Aren't you excited?"

"Please calm down," Jongin laughed with a shy grin. "It was only the first date. And we're not-... we're not anything. Yet."

Chanyeol didn't seem to give him much attention now that Monggu was there, and he played with the puppy for some long minutes. Finally, the poodle jumped away from his big hands to come lay between Jongin's feet, and Chanyeol looked back at his best friend.

"But you want more, right?"

"Yeah I do. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but he's just-... he's so-... you know."

"I get it," Chanyeol snickered. "So then, continue with the story please. The suspense is killing me."

Jongin rolled his eyes, and told him how they decided to go on some dogs-date. Chanyeol choked dramatically at that, one hand over his heart, yelling that Taemin was too cute to be true. Jongin agreed eagerly to that, and went on with how they were practically thrown away from the tea room, to the moment Taemin disappeared from view.

Chanyeol was frozen on the couch, looking at him with wide eyes and a frown.

"Wait... are you kidding me?"

"Uh? What do you mean?"

Jongin nervously scratched his ear and Chanyeol gritted his teeth.

"So you two didn't even kiss?!"

Jongin and Monggu both jumped at the thunderous bark from Chanyeol.

"No," Jongin complained. "We were surrounded by people... It just-... we can't do it like that."

"Kim Jongin," Chanyeol ranted and raved with an agonizing wail. "You're making me listen to all this sickening sweet flirt between you and your soulmate only to end it like that? What the-... what the actual-... How can you be serious?!"

Jongin crossed his arms against his chest with an offended pout.

"Well first of all, you were the one who wanted to know everything that happened. And second, I'm the one who's frustrated about not being kissed!"

Chanyeol let himself fall on the floor in that theatrical way of his and laid there, looking at the ceiling with a sigh.

"What am I going to do with you?" he whispered.

"What was I supposed to do exactly?" Jongin whined, coming closer to the edge of the couch to look at him. "You really do know I couldn't kiss him with people around..."

Chanyeol draped an arm on his eyes.

"Love finds a way," he only said, solemnly.

"Don't incorrectly quote Jurassic Park at me," Jongin threatened.

Chanyeol couldn't help the smirk that broke his lips.

"Also, please don't do that. Don't ruin this date for me. You know how difficult it was... I'm very happy with how it went... and even though I'm a bit upset that I couldn't kiss him, I wouldn't change a thing about today," Jongin continued, his voice getting softer and quieter.

Chanyeol squirmed on the floor and finally got up to come back next to his best friend.

"Sorry," he said with that sheepish smile of his. "I'm very proud of you, you know. And I'm so glad it all went well."

Jongin nodded, and then shrugged with a low hum.

"Should we continue the Indiana Jones marathon before we get sappy?"

"Words of wisdom," Chanyeol breathed out as he jumped on his feet to go get the DVD.

When Jongin woke up on the next day, the apartment was silent. It was his day off, and Chanyeol had probably already went off to university a couple of hours ago. He turned around, hugging his pillow, and sighed. He knew by the way the sun was lighting up his room that it was probably past noon, but he still couldn't find it in himself to move anyway. One of his hand came to rub at his puffy eyes as he yawned loudly; then he reached for his phone on his nightstand. He brought it close to his face, squinting at the screen as he turned it on. He blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the sleepy fog in his mind when he saw the notification saying he got a new message. From Taemin.

A large smile instantly bloomed on his lips, and he rolled on his back with happiness.

"Hi!" It only said.

There was a sticker of a dancing little chick. It had been sent four hours ago.

"Hey."

Jongin bit his lips as he pressed send awkwardly. And waited. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but he was wiggling his toes in anticipation.

"I have a serious dilemma, can you help me out?" Taemin sent, out of the blue.

Jongin's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he agreed immediately.

"I can try. Tell me."

"I want a tea, but I can't choose between a cup of Genmaicha or a Chai... What to do, Jongin?! What to dooo?"

Taemin sent a crying emoji that got Jongin to snicker. Somehow he could exactly picture the man putting up a dramatic pout.

"Genmaicha is your favorite and you know I find Chai nasty... so it seems pretty easy to me."

"Genmaicha it is, then. Thank you~"

Jongin shook his head with a fond smile, and scrunched his nose. Talking to Taemin was becoming easier and it made him feel so incredibly warm.

"I want a tea too, now. Aaah. What a bother."

"ehehehehe 6v6 why is it a bother?"

"Because I'm still in bed and I don't want to move. It's comfy in there."

Taemin didn't answer immediately, and Jongin thought he might be busy. Probably preparing his tea.

But Taemin was standing still in his kitchen, not even paying attention to the fact that the water in his kettle had finished to boil. He was picturing Jongin lazily laying in bed and his breathing got shaky.

"Oh my god, Kim Jongin, stop flirting with me!!"

Jongin blinked few times at the screen, rereading what he just wrote and frowned. He wasn't sure he understood what happened.

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"Imagining you in your bed right now, waking up, makes me weak... (also, I was kidding! please flirt with me!!)"

Taemin sent another sticker of a cute bunny blushing like crazy. And Jongin's heart bounced in his ribcage. He let out a low laugh, and nibbled at his bottom lip before finally getting enough courage to click the camera.

Taemin's jaw fell on his chest when he opened the glorious picture Jongin just sent him, as if it was no big deal. But it was. It was a very big deal to Taemin. Because it was the first selfie he ever got, and because Jongin looked so unfairly godlike that he wanted to scream. Instead he fell on his chair, took a long inhale, and stared at said picture a bit more.

Jongin's face still looked swollen from sleep and that made his lips even more pouty than usual. His bed head was so adorable, Taemin could feel his heart clench. And he seriously wondered if his half-lidded eyes were due to his drowsiness or if Jongin gave him that look on purpose. He wasn't sure what was worse; for Jongin to naturally look this good, or for him to deliberately try to give Taemin a heart attack.

Taemin kept blinking at the picture and he tried to remember that that boy had wanted to kiss him the previous evening. And he sent a heart in response. Before he could think more and find something smart and thoughtful to write, he sent another heart. Then another one. Then a dozen more.

Jongin laughed as he saw the conversation getting invaded by hearts and he rolled on his stomach, pressing his red face against his pillow.

They exchanged texts until Jongin managed to get up to make himself a cup of tea and Taemin had to go to work. As he sat in front on some late breakfast, Jongin couldn't help but go through their little chat again, amazed by the sudden ease with which he had managed to talk to his crush. It was feeling so natural to get teased by Taemin, and so pleasant to flirt back.

A routine quickly came to them. They texted each other good morning, and good night, and every random thoughts and questions they had during the day, until Jongin found himself glued to his phone whenever he wasn't working or sleeping, and Chanyeol mocked him a lot for that.

"It is funny...," Chanyeol once snickered.

"What is?" Jongin asked, barely looking up from his current chat with Taemin.

Taemin was telling him about this friend of his who was very much into displays of affection, and how much he didn't really like it. So he was constantly pushing him away, and apparently, said friend had been bothering him all afternoon.

"I still remember a Jongin who constantly lost his phone and always forgot to charge it properly and who would take three days to answer to a text. This person disappeared from the surface of the Earth apparently."

Jongin straightened up to look at him, then frowned, and pulled out his tongue at his best friend's face.

"A very mature answer, as always," Chanyeol continued.

Jongin ignored him, and typed back to Taemin because he was worried about this whole thing of him not liking intimate touches. He often dreamed about cuddling Taemin in bed all morning and he would be very sad to see his little utopia getting crushed.

"I guess it is just like all those times where I assured you that you looked good in glasses and you never listened to me... but of course the moment Lee Taemin says the exact same thing, suddenly you accept it," Chanyeol went on with a whining voice. "All the things you never did for me, but do for him."

Jongin stopped at that and stared at his best friend with one eyebrow raised.

"You should make peace about that soon, Park. There are a lot of things I want to do for Taemin that I'm never gonna do for you."

Chanyeol burst out laughing, and Jongin wondered what was so funny about what he just said. Until Chanyeol gave him that sneaky glare of his as he wiggled his eyebrows in a way that was anything but subtle.

"I bet there are," Chanyeol gurgled.

"Park Chanyeol!" Jongin screeched as he threw a pillow at his face, his cheeks growing a deep shade of carmine. "You're such an idiot, I swear."

He grumbled inaudibly as Chanyeol nudged his knee with a sneer.

"Jongin..."

"What?" Jongin snapped with a pout.

"I won't get jealous if you kiss him, I promise."

"I'm gonna punch you."

"You can even cuddle him and touch his ."

"Chanyeol," Jongin breathed out in a threatening low growl.

"But," Chanyeol solemnly said as he raised one hand high above his head, "you have to promise he won't get to use the Iron Man bowl. That's ours. That's our thing. It is holy. He cannot touch our thing."

Jongin rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Are you done?" he muttered.

"Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Then, I'm done."

Jongin was about to go back to texting Taemin, but he stopped himself to push Chanyeol's shoulder.

"I wouldn't have let him near our Iron Man bowl anyway. He's super clumsy. He would break it."

Chanyeol cackled and finally went back to his video game.

"You're really gonna make me say it, aren't you?"

Jongin looked curiously at Taemin's last text.

"Say what?" he asked.

"I don't really like it when my friends get all touchy. But I'm not planning to be friends with you."

Jongin's expression turned sly; a low sneaky laugh escaping his lips.

"... so I can get all touchy with you?"

"Look at you being greedy again 6v6"

"I'm a bit of a cuddler and you always look so soft I refuse to be blamed."

Taemin dropped his phone on his couch to grip at his own cheeks, his eyes squeezing shut. He was trying his hardest every damn minute to not fall too hard for Kim Jongin, and the man was really making it difficult when he was being so smooth.

"… sweet talker." He typed with a pout.

Jongin had the nerves to answer that with a damn heart emoticon. He sent him a heart, and Taemin wanted to see him and kiss him to oblivion.

He had only wanted to tease Jongin at first. It was true that he didn't exactly appreciate his friends getting too close, and Minho could get quite invasive sometimes, but he had wanted to snuggle Jongin's chest the minute he first saw him. And now he was feeling quite stupid because he didn't know how to admit that, if he even should, and he really wanted to see Jongin so much it was painful. And the idea of Jongin wanting to cuddle him was making him warm.

"Ah, I miss you."

"Really? You do? I do too! I miss you a lot!"

Jongin's eagerness in his answer was endearing and Taemin whimpered.

It had been almost a week since their date, since the last time they saw each other, and Taemin was very upset.

"Can I come see you at the shop until we define a day for our second date?" Jongin texted.

"Of course you can, silly. I'm waiting for you all the time."

Jongin replied with a picture of himself smiling widely, too close to the camera, and Taemin saved it immediately.

"And hug me at the first opportunity you see." Taemin sent.

Jongin went to the tea shop on Wednesday. He hadn't pondered that much about it, for once, because he craved to see Taemin.

As soon as he had entered, he had been assaulted by the blinding smile of his crush. They had shyly greeted each other, and Taemin was staring at him. His eyes traveled up and down Jongin's silhouette with a repressed longing and he crossed his fingers on his counter, as if he was struggling to not reach out to him.

"How are you doing?" Jongin asked, completely oblivious to the yearning on Taemin's face.

"Great," Taemin answered, "and you?"

Jongin approached, stopping when his knees bumped against the counter, and smiled as his eyes fell on Taemin's hands.

"Me too," he said, absentmindedly.

Their fingers touched. Jongin caressed his palm and played with his hand, intertwining their fingers together. Taemin's hand was so small in his, it was adorable.

"Are you free on Sunday afternoon?" Taemin suddenly asked.

Jongin looked up in surprise, and nodded with a soft smile.

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"I had planned to text you about it after work, actually," Taemin laughed. "I can get Adam and Eve on Sunday. My mother will be in town so she can pick them back up around four in the afternoon. If you're up for it, we could meet before."

Jongin squeezed Taemin's hand in his.

"I'm totally up for it."

"Good, " Taemin said as tilted his head a bit. "Do you know of a nice place where we could go?"

"There's a park near the Han River that I really like, and Monggu too."

The door opened behind Jongin, making the little bell ring to announce a new customer, and Taemin's eyes widened. As if he had forgotten where he even was. Jongin let go of his hand in a hurry and straightened up.

"I have to think a bit more, if you don't mind." he said a bit loudly as he feigned to be looking over Taemin's head to read some tea names.

It took Taemin a couple of seconds to realize Jongin was acting, and he blinked nervously as he tried to get on with it.

"Yes. Yes, of course. Take your time, Sir."

Then he turned to the new customer and bowed.

Jongin slowly moved to the side, as casually as he could manage, and pretended to be pondering over tea boxes and tea blends. He walked around, smelling the tea samples available around the shop, and Taemin followed his little performance from the corner of his eyes, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. After a few minutes, Jongin rolled his eyes, and winced at Taemin when the customer couldn't see him. Why was that man taking so long to decide which tea to buy? He was even making small talk to Taemin.

Taemin looked at him with big eyes and a pout when his customer was busy searching for his wallet and Jongin had to keep himself from laughing out loud.

When the man left at last, Taemin turned to Jongin with an exaggerated sigh.

"That was a close one," he whispered.

"Let's see each other in private after Sunday...," Jongin murmured.

"I agree to that."

Jongin was back against the counter already, staring into Taemin's eyes as if he wanted to drown in them.

"What kind of movies do you like?" Jongin wondered.

That took Taemin by surprise.

"Where is that coming from, all of a sudden?"

Jongin gave him a large smug grin.

"I'm starting to think about what to pick for our movie night, once I will have gained Adam's affection."

Taemin shook his head and laughed. He was still looking fondly at Jongin.

"You're cute when you're so confident. Why weren't you so bold when you were trying to gain my affection?"

"You're a lot more intimidating than your puppy."

"You obviously haven't met him yet to be so naive," Taemin exclaimed. "Anyway, I love horror movies."

Jongin couldn't help the slight mix of disappointment and apprehension on his face as he heard that. He wasn't one for horror movies. At all. Not even with a lot of friends. Not even if Chanyeol promised they would share a bed afterwards. And somehow, he hadn't pictured Taemin liking that kind of movies. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but not horror movies.

Yet, it was a bit thrilling to remember there were so many things he still didn't know about Taemin.

"Oh," he simply said.

And Taemin laughed again.

"I take it that horror movies aren't your cup of tea?"

"Yeah, not really...," Jongin murmured with a pout. "I guess-... I mean if you really want to watch one, it's okay."

Taemin reached out to poke his nose.

"I said you could choose the movie. I don't want you to force yourself into watching something you really don't enjoy. So what's your kind of movies? Besides the Avengers."

"Well, I like adventures and action movies. And fantastic stuff too. Like, I adore Lord of the Rings but I'm also all about Lethal Weapon. My favorite movie is Pirates of the Caribbean."

"I haven't watched it," Taemin sing-songed.

That made Jongin freeze on his spot as he widened his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I haven't watched that Pirates thing," Taemin laughed.

But then he saw Jongin's face go white and his laughter died in his throat.

"You mean you haven't watched it in the past few weeks or you haven't watched it... like... ever?"

Taemin pinched his lips, surprised and confused. The way Jongin was staring at him was starting to make him feel nervous. As if he was the pitiful victim of a terrible tragedy.

"I've never watched it. I'm sorry?"

Jongin wiggled on his feet with an eager sparkle in his eyes.

"Do you want to watch it? Can I show it to you? You're gonna love it. I've never met anyone who didn't like POTC. It's impossible not to like it. Please," he hastily blabbered.

"If it's that important to you, I'm willing to give it a try," Taemin agreed.

Jongin's face lightened up.

"I really have to make Adam like me then. I can't believe you've never watched POTC. It's only the best movie ever."

"But," Taemin began.

And Jongin stopped his stammering to look at him curiously.

"If we watch your favorite movie ever, to quote you, it means I will have to be attentive to it."

"Well, yeah...," Jongin frowned. "I mean, I'm always attentive when I watch a movie. Aren't you?"

"Usually yes," Taemin whispered, "but being attentive means we can't make out."

Taemin's face was serious, but there was a sinful spark shining in his eyes. And Jongin gasped.

He hadn't thought of that in the least. How could he have not think about making out with Taemin; it was beyond any logic. But here he was, now forced to choose between showing the masterpiece that was his favorite movie to his crush who had never seen it (it was still hard to believe) or kissing passionately said pretty boy.

"Did I lose you in that struggle?" Taemin snickered.

"I don't know what to do," Jongin whined with a pout. "I want to watch Pirates with you. But if you offer some making out how can I possibly not want it. You don't know how badly I want to kiss you already."

Taemin blushed at the sudden honest confession.

"Oh damn," he snorted. "Well then. We'll find some way, won't we? We'll just have to make out after the movie."

"It's only two hours and twelve minutes long anyway," Jongin breathed out.

"I'm sure we'll manage."

"Yeah," Jongin said, and his voice sounded anything but certain.

"But first, you'll have to get Adam's approbation."

Jongin closed his eyes in defeat.

"Why are there always so many obstacles between your lips and mine?"

Taemin leaned closer to him with a sly look, a smile blooming on that tempting mouth.

"Only to make them sweeter," he hummed, and his voice sounded full of promises.

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Hi everyone,

A small chapter for your weekly dose of Taekai fluff ♥
I hope you enjoyed this sweet flirt & please, look forward to the next chapter to meet Adam & Eve! (๑>ᴗ<๑) I will do my best to post next week, but I'm very busy with work lately, so I could end up late.

Today's tea is “Hyeonmi-nokcha”. It's the brown rice green tea that Taemin (& I) love very much! You might know the japanese blend called “Genmaicha” (or at least, you should find some Genmaicha in your tea shop more easily). They really are almost the same & I personally love that the roasted rice makes it taste a bit like popcorn. I love that it's not too sweet and goes really well with lots of meals...

Take care of you and have a good end of the week.