Common sense dictated that Kyuhyun take the cheaper tomato sauce. He held the two jars up in his hands and brought them close to his face. He squinted at them, as if he could see which one was yummier by death-glaring at them.

            “I think Mushrooms & Onions would taste better.” The comment from his right shoulder made him twitch and he almost dropped one of the glass jars to put his hand on his heart.

            “Jongwoon. Quit trying to give me a heart attack before I hit thirty, will you?” He gestured towards Jongwoon’s outfit. “And that. That ‘disguise’ thing you’re wearing is attracting more attention than if you hadn’t worn it.”

            Jongwoon adjusted his obnoxiously bug-like sunglasses, which hung above his black face mask. Families in the supermarket sent them freaked-out stares (at Jongwoon because he looked like a burglar, and at Kyuhyun for associating with said burglar). “This is high fashion, Kyukyu. You just don’t know how to appreciate it.”

            Kyuhyun resorted to lightly slapping Jongwoon’s bicep, as if he could win their argument that way. It was weird how he usually shied away from skinship, but it was rather natural to push Jongwoon around. His friend merely grinned and took the tomato jar that was labeled ‘Mushrooms & Onions’ and tossed it into the cart. Kyuhyun peered into it, inwardly lamenting over how empty it looked. They were terrible grocery shoppers. He hung himself over the cart, using his weight to push it, dragging his feet along.

            “I’m so tired,” he said. “Can we just go home and I don’t know, order pizza instead?”

            “You were the one who insisted on actually eating real food.”

            “I changed my mind. Yes, I have. On the decree of Your Royal Highness, Kyuhyun His Majesty himself, formally states that he will not suffer the injustice of trying to decide which tomato sauce looks better any longer and that his servant, otherwise known as Kim Jongwoon, should piggy back him home.“

            “The servant demands that they finish their shopping trip first.” Jongwoon’s eye smile did funny things to his stomach.

            A little smirk inched across Kyuhyun’s face. “Oh yeah? Will His Majesty still get the piggy back ride?”

            Jongwoon was just about to reply (damnit) when a familiar voice assaulted their ears from the other side of the aisle: “KYUHYUN? IT’S YOU. IN A GROCERY STORE. Has the world ended?”

            Oh great, and now they were attracting even more stares and now he remembered why he hated shopping in any stores. Weird things always happened to him and people would stare and ugh. Just, ugh.

            “Sungmin,” he said not-so-enthusiastically.

            A fairly attractive (maybe even bordering on feminine?) man bounded his way up to them. His bow-shaped lips formed a smile that seemed to know only sunshine and light, but that didn’t fool Kyuhyun. This guy’s innocent demeanor was only for show.

            “I haven’t seen you in forever, it seems,” Sungmin said, laughing. “How are you?”

            Worst thing was, he seemed quite sincere about it. The nostalgic fondness stretched across his chest again and he reflexively flicked his finger on Sungmin’s forehead. “Just the same as usual. And there’s nothing wrong about me in a grocery store. How else can I eat? And how are you?” The last part came out a little stilted and stiff, and he was quite aware of Jongwoon side-eyeing him for that.

            “I’m doing great.” Sungmin’s eyes inquisitively rested on Jongwoon and his face-mask.

            “He’s my new roommate,” and he instinctively stopped before he said his name, actual or the stage one. From what he had remembered, Sungmin liked to go into almost bordering on psychopathic spazzes over K-Pop Idols. He was nice enough to spare Jongwoon that (a small part of him wondered if it was also because he wanted to keep Jongwoon to himself selfishly).

            Sungmin shook Jongwoon’s hand with no restraint, although his eyebrows were clearly raised at the all-black attire that Jongwoon had on. He really did look like a madman escaped from the asylum. “You look familiar,” he mused, and Kyuhyun could practically see his head gears turning and flipping through all the Wanted posters that he had seen in the past. It was almost a little disturbing that he still knew Sungmin this well.

            “I get that a lot,” Jongwoon said, and his eyes connected with Kyuhyun as they shared this private joke. He released Sungmin’s hand and stepped back to pretend like he was examining the yogurt selections, allowing them the space to talk.

            “So. Are you still with Ryeowook?” Kyuhyun tried to make it sound like it was just an aside, something spontaneously asked.

            “Yup.” Sungmin carefully gauged his reaction before he contentedly went on. “We’re still going steady, even though we’ve had our ups and downs. But all couples do, don’t they?”

            Kyuhyun thought he might feel bitterness, but there was none. A sense of refreshing relief washed through him at that.

            “That’s good.” He meant it, too.

            “We should talk again sometime soon. I need to get updates on your love life too.”

            “No updates,” he said, and then amended when Sungmin’s eyes slid towards Jongwoon again, “so far.”

            There was a surprised burst of laughter from his ex, and then a friendly clap on his shoulder. “Good to see you anyway, Kyuhyun.”

            “You too,” he murmured as Sungmin walked off.

            Jongwoon didn’t say anything when they headed off to the check-out register, but he could practically feel the curiosity radiating off him. Kyuhyun liked that he didn’t try to intrude and pry details from him.

            “Sungmin and I used to date in high school,” he said, a jolt of nervousness sending his heart rate up several notches. He kept his eyes on the reflective surface of the store they were walking by.

            How would Jongwoon react to the fact that he had dated another man? He wasn’t sure if he could handle an uncomfortable, or worse, disgusted look from him. Kyuhyun was comfortable with who he was (that took time, but he got there), but he knew perfectly well that sometimes other people weren’t so accepting.    

            Kyuhyun started chewing on the insides of his cheek in slight anxiety, still staring at Jongwoon’s reflection. Jongwoon was still keeping his stride, face unreadable.

            “Used to,” Jongwoon repeated carefully.

            “Yeah,” Kyuhyun said. “He broke up with me in our third year.” It didn’t sting anymore to say that.

            “Do you still love him?” Jongwoon’s voice sounded a little taut. The sides of his lips were twisted down.

            “No, that’s ridiculous. It’s been a few years.” Kyuhyun started biting the insides on his cheeks again; this was seriously a bad habit. “So you’re fine that I’m – that I’m gay?”

            Jongwoon looked startled, like he hadn’t even been thinking about it, and met his eyes in the reflective glass. “Yes,” he said almost vehemently, and then continued in a more thoughtful manner: “Anyway, that’d be slightly hypocritical of me. I think I’m bi.”

            “You think?”

            Jongwoon laughed, flashing his (shiny – the toothpaste commercial people loved him) teeth for a second. The tension between them dissipated like hot air in a cool night. “Well, I’ve never been able to get much of a chance to date because my schedule is usually packed.”

            “I happen to know that a lot of girls and guys would line up to be your date,” Kyuhyun sniffed.

            “Oh really?” Jongwoon’s smile was a little too satisfied and cat-like for Kyuhyun’s tastes.

            “I didn’t mean to raise your ego – sorry, I meant, no one would line up to be your date.”

            “No take backs.” They walked into the apartment lobby. “Besides, they only want the image I present them, not me.”

            Kyuhyun set the grocery bags in the elevator down with a pained sigh. “I’m sure they would still line up even after they got to know you.” Then he flushed (he did that an awful lot around Jongwoon, didn’t he?). “That wasn’t a compliment.”

            “Sure it wasn’t.”

            The elevator doors opened and they stepped out.

            “Humph.”

            “What are we having for dinner?”

            “Pizza takeouts.” Kyuhyun pushed open the door.

            “Was our epic grocery shopping all for nothing?”

            “Too lazy to make anything today, you can if you want.”

            “Uh – No thanks.”

            Kyuhyun belted out a short burst of laughter before stuffing all the stuff into the fridge. His roommate watched him for a contented little while before shuffling off into the bathroom.

            “I’m gonna take a shower!” Jongwoon shouted.

            “You don’t need my permission to do that!” Kyuhyun shouted back, grinning as the sound of the bathroom door shutting reached him.

            He closed the fridge door and leaned back against it. He let out a shaky sigh.

            His legs were still shaking.

OTL this was short. Hope it was enjoyable at least?