Jinyoung's persistence finally pays off, and Jaebeom agrees to go out on one date with him. Just one date. 

**************

Around noon 3 days later, Jinyoung shows up at his café with Yugyeom in tow and it appears they brought beverages and snacks to Jaebeom’s chagrin and embarrassment.

“Everyone is working so hard. Please accept my gratitude by enjoying these refreshments.” Jinyoung says to Jaebeom and his team after greeting them. 

It’s made clear that his friends don’t intend to support him at all when they eagerly accept the refreshments and announce that they are taking a break to enjoy Jinyoung’s hospitality. Jaebeom can already imagine the horrific teasing he’s going to undergo from Jackson and Mark when Jinyoung is gone.

Jinyoung isn’t exactly the person Jaebeom wants to see right now but he admits that the interruption is welcome. Jaebeom loves his job of course; more so the challenges but those challenges tend to steep into stress the few times a client gives him reign to do as he pleases with a place. When clients are specific, it narrows down what he has to work with but when they aren’t specific like in Jinyoung’s case- who simply trusts Jaebeom to bring a modern and colourful palette to the rather old-fashioned café- Jaebeom is left with infinite possibilities to choose from and his imaginative, perfectionist self is left exploring endlessly until the perfect design comes to him. Admittedly that takes up a lot of Jaebeom’s time and energy.

Since early this morning Jaebeom has been looking solely at all shades of blue paint and honestly all the colours are starting to morph into one.

So definitely a break is in order.

Jinyoung takes half a second to acknowledge Mark and Jackson and then he moves on to the person he is really here to see.

 Jaebeom smiles wearily as he watches Jinyoung swagger towards him with a pompous little smile on his face and one hand deep in his pants pocket, looking like a damned runway model.

Jinyoung comes to a stop just a few meters shy of Jaebeom’s personal space. “Hi.” It’s probably the first time today that Jinyoung is wearing a genuine smile. He isn’t much of a smiling man but the sight of Jaebeom’s kind face just brings the kind of thing out of him because seriously how can a person not smile at something as radiant and beautiful as Jaebeom is?

“Hi.” Jaebeom offers a more polite smile.

“How are things going over here so far?”

“Good. We are making proper headway. We are almost done visualising, planning and drawing the blueprints. Today we are working on selecting essential and decorative items such as colours, aesthetically pleasing artwork and lighting. Mark has picked out Tomorrow we’ll begin implementing the plan. Jackson and Mark are already redesigning and repainting the furniture. By tomorrow they’ll start painting. We’ll be done and out of your hair before long.”

Jinyoung steps closer to Jaebeom and mutters, “Take your time. I’m still enjoying the sight of you around here.”

Jaebeom clears his throat, feeling a bit flustered by Jinyoung’s shameless staring and obvious invitation to flirt.

Thankfully Jaebeom doesn’t have to answer that because Jinyoung’s kind assistant provides a distraction by coming over to greet Jaebeom. “Hello.” He says with a wide smile that for some odd reason gives Jaebeom the weird feeling that Yugyeom knows something Jaebeom doesn’t.

“Hi, Yugyeom. I’m glad you are here. We need to sit down again and pinpoint our project goals. Before we go any further, I need to know we are on the same page.”

“I agree. I’ll set up a meeting for tomorrow.” Yugyeom says. “We can meet here and talk.”

“You have a lot to do at the office, Yugyeom.” Jinyoung interjects, briefly taking his gaze off Jaebeom to look at his assistant. “Why don’t I take that task off your hands?”

“I think your schedule for tomorrow is tighter than mine, sir.” Yugyeom counters.

“You are my assistant. Free up some time for me to have a meeting with Jaebeom.”

“Okay, sir.” Yugyeom concedes, making it a point to show that he is fighting the urge to roll his eyes.” Please excuse me.” He walks away, leaving Jinyoung alone with Jaebeom again.

“Is this going to be a thing?” Jaebeom asks, needing some clarity on just how far Jinyoung is going to go with making up excuses to see Jaebeom. Like most people, Jaebeom isn’t adverse to some attention especially when it’s coming from the right person. At the moment he is so not interested in Jinyoung or his attention.

Making an outlandishly unbelievable show of feigned ignorance, Jinyoung asks, “What do you mean?”

“Coffee and snacks. Regular visits here for one reason or the other.”

Jinyoung realises what Jaebeom is saying and he smiles. “The snacks? I don’t mind showing kindness to my business partners. Ask anyone.”

“My teammates might be a bit uncomfortable with it.”

Jinyoung turns to look back over his shoulder at Mark and Jackson, who are not doing Jaebeom any favours by digging into their snacks. “I don’t think so. They seem pretty happy.”

“They won’t openly express their discomfort of course because that would be rude.”

“Then how do you know they are uncomfortable?”

“Because I know them.”

Taking another step close to Jaebeom, Jinyoung stops just shy of entering Jaebeom’s personal space. The close proximity is a little unexpected and daunting so Jaebeom feels his pulse start to race slightly as he considers moving a step back. His feet stay oddly rooted as Jinyoung’s perfect face moves closer to his.  “I think you are the only one who is uncomfortable because my gestures make you feel like I’m still hitting on you.” Jinyoung says with a tiny smirk on his face, his voice a note or two lower than usual. He is shamelessly being seductive and they both know it.

Jaebeom swallows thickly. “Are you still hitting on me?” he asks still even though the answer is staring him right in the face.

“Yes.”

“You should give up.”

“I don’t appreciate being told what to do.”

“It’s more a piece of advice. I’m telling you that you can’t change my mind.”

Fire ignites in Jinyoung’s eyes, transforming his friendly expression completely into a chilling seriousness. “And I’m telling you that I’ll let you know when I need advice on how to win your heart. See you later, Jaebeom-ssi.” Jinyoung winks, turns on his heels and walks away, their conversation apparently over.

**********

The following day Jinyoung shows up to the café on time for his meeting with Jaebeom.

Jinyoung takes in Jaebeom’s appearance and everything in his world comes to a screeching halt when he realises that the soft, strawberry blonde hair on Jaebeom’s head is gone, and has been replaced with sky blue. Before he can stop himself, Jinyoung comments, “Your hair isn blue.” with a deep scowl on his face.  

Jaebeom’s eyebrows furrow at the strange comment. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

An answer doesn’t come right away because Jinyoung is still processing the change and deciding whether he likes it or not. It turns out the answer is yes he does like it. The sky blue works just as well as the blonde against Jaebeom’s pretty porcelain skin face.  A smile finally breaks out on Jinyoung’s face. “No problem at all. This works too.”

“Okay.” Jaebeom smiles back, oddly relieved by Jinyoung’s approval. “How are you doing?”

“Good. How about you?”

“I’m fine. Just give me a moment.” Jaebeom walks over to the other end of the room and bends down to pick up the blueprints he left on the floor. This action provides Jinyoung with an unexpected, very dreamy view of Jaebeom’s ; a view he’ll be thinking a lot about later.

Jaebeom straightens back up and turns back around towards Jinyoung. Jinyoung’s gaze slides back up to meet Jaebeom’s gaze, but not fast enough.

Jaebeom looks annoyed as he approaches Jinyoung.  “Just so we are clear, I know you are checking out my .”

Jinyoung has no intention of apologising for his interest in all of Jaebeom. “It’s a great view.” He stuffs his hands in his pants pockets and shrugs one shoulder

“Good for you, but I’m uncomfortable.”

“In that case I’m truly sorry.”

Jaebeom shakes his head, now giving Jinyoung a dirty look. “At least have the decency to feign remorse.”

Jinyoung just grins and takes the blueprints from Jaebeom’s hands. “Come on, let’s talk.”

**********

This is the second time Jaebeom is sitting down with Jinyoung to talk business, and it’s fair to conclude that flirty Jinyoung is extremely different from businessman Jinyoung. Business means business for him as is evidenced by his unwavering seriousness during the entire meeting. It’s not that Jaebeom had any doubts about how professional Jinyoung is. It’s simply an impressive discovery that Jinyoung knows when to work and when to play.

The moment their discussion is over, Jinyoung right loosens up again. He smiles softly at Jaebeom as he watches him set the sketches aside at the table between