The hands of his clock show exactly 18:26 when Jinki leaves through the front door of his office building, signaling along with his steps outside the ending of a not-so-hard day of work. He breathes in the fresh early evening air deeply once before he turns around the corner of the street and starts his way home.

It’s in front of his favorite french bakery that Jinki’s feet stop, and his eyes wander along the quirky brown writing on the glass door, contemplating whether or not he should enter. It’s a tight battle, (because Jinki usually is more one for rice than bread) but the time since he last had the delicious flavor of a fresh baguette on his tongue had been, as he now realized, a rather too long time ago. Jinki’s gambling around pros and cons stopped though when the door to the bakery is opened with the jingle of a bell and the delicate scent of flour and salt mixed with slightly burnt bread crust washes past him.

The jingle of the bell rises again, this time following him into the shop and announcing his arrival to the two workers behind the counter. Jinki almost sighs in relief at the sight of only two more customers in line before him, because the baguette in this place is to die for and so very ardently wanted that as late as it was getting in the day, he could have just as well been too late for the delicious specialty. But his eyes note the three lost baguettes in the corner of their destined place, and that’s enough of a number to ease his spirits. It was a close number, too, as two of the breads were taken from their spot and sold to his forerunners. But then it was Jinki’s turn, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Please hold the last baguette for me, ok?”

Or maybe it could have.

Jinki turned his head towards the origin of the rather heavy-breathing voice that just basically stole his much deserved favorite piece of bread by forcefully swirling through the door and butting in before he could have even opened his mouth. Jinki threw a quick glare at the young man.

“I think it was my turn,” he announced coldly, and, turning around to the rather distraught looking young woman behind the counter, added “I would like that baguette please.”

The woman looked from him to the abruptly arrived customer before scurrying off to pack up the lonely piece of bread.

“Oh come on, I really want that!” came the voice from behind him again, sounding rather accusing.

Jinki didn’t even turn around as he replied.

“So do I.”

There was silence from behind him. Taking this as a sign of defeat, Jinki looked through his wallet for the money to pay for his prize. Just as he started raising his arm to hand the correct amount over to the worker, a hand landed on his shoulder and turned him around not too gently. Jinki’s eyes immediately turned hard and the gesture, and his mind was set on telling this young male to just let it go and don’t in line the next time, when he met the face that no doubt belonged to the owner of the unwelcomed hand.

For a moment Jinki thought he was in one of those cheesy and much too cliché French movies, with the bakery and the bell (that was still jingling from the very forceful opening) and the scent of bread around them, as he looked into the slightly feline, dark eyes of the man in front of him.

Then he registered his blonde bleached hair and the cupid’s bow on his upper lip, the soft skin of his cheeks and his eyelashes (Jinki thought he could probably count them if he leaned in just a little bit more), and Jinki came to the conclusion that yelling at the young man wasn’t the best idea he might have had. Instead he opted to stay silent, attention focused on the person opposing him, taking in his presence and the almost black pool of his eyes.

“Look, I really want that baguette. I know it wasn’t the nicest way to claim it, but my day has been anything but rainbows and unicorns, so please just let me have it this once?”

He took in the movement of the other man’s lips as he talked, and when he stopped Jinki took a tiny moment to recall what the occasion of their disagreement had been about in the first place. He still didn’t say anything though, still eyeing up the other male as if he had just in fact seen unicorns running free inside the small french bakery. When he realized though that he was being stared at with an expecting glint inside of those dark, dark eyes, his mind went as blank as an unwritten piece of paper.

“Uh, well, uh…” Jinki started unintelligently, stuttering more than he would have liked.

The other man still looked at him, waiting, his eyebrows knitting together in slight confusion just the smallest bit.

“Uh, then maybe we can share it over dinner at my place?”

The words bubbled out of Jinki’s mouth before he could stop them, before he could think them even, but the second they were out in the air between them he had to refrain from cringing in embarrassment. Way too much like a cliché french movie he concluded, chiding himself mentally at his anything but smooth behavior.

He dared a glance up, hoping that his lack of tact hadn’t been taken too badly. His eyes went up further towards the ones of the other male, though, as he caught a glimpse of the radiant smile that spread the other’s lips.

“You got yourself a deal.”

It was Jinki’s turn to smile at those words, mirroring the rather captivating expression he just saw on the other man which he hoped he would see again very soon. A rather loud “Hrrrmm!” resounded and Jinki turned around to the young woman who was still waiting for her money, his ears tinting slightly red, though he couldn’t help the somewhat smug expression from taking over his features.

The young man took the baguette from the counter and thanked the worker, while Jinki mumbled a quiet sorry as he followed behind the other male.

Out on the street they stopped, and Jinki looked over questioningly.

“My name is Kibum, by the way,” the other announced with a small chuckle (and Jinki was one-hundred percent sure that he was going to do anything to hear that again). With an inviting hand gesture Kibum added “and I think you know the way to your apartment much better than I do.”

The words made Jinki’s ears turn red once again, though he couldn’t bring himself to care as he led the way to his place in record’s time, hoping he would have something other in his fridge than baguette to eat for dinner.