note: The picture will make sense as you read. ^^; Kind of a personal accomplishment from me because it's my first completed oneshot for Sehun~ Even though it isn't a romantic relationship... xD Enjoy!

 

[ twelve kisses | wingman ]

 

“I just don't want to be the third wheel! Again, Sehun! You do this to me all the time!”

 

“N-no, I don't! And you won't be the third wheel. It isn't even an official date, you know? Just bubble tea and stuff...”

 

“'And stuff' implies personal conversation and date-like behavior, Sehunnie!” Your voice was bordering on a whine.

 

“No, it doesn't! Besides, she knows you! So she'll be more comfortable, and so will you!”

 

Your deadpan look provided the response for that. Sehun huffed in frustration. “___, you're being so difficult. Please, just do this for me? I... I really like her...”

 

You felt your defiance waning at his dejected tone. But dammit, it wasn't fair! He always put you in awkward situations, but as his twin, it was unusually difficult to turn him down.

 

“How about this? I can call Jongin!”

 

“Uh- Huh?” Your blush was so unnervingly instant.

 

“Yeah! He's gone with us before. You guys are pretty close, right?” Sehun grabbed your shoulders excitedly. “He'll go with us so you don't have to feel so weird!”

 

Never mind the fact that it also stuck his best friend into an awkward situation along with you, of course. Sehun probably didn't think to worry about that.

 

“Sehun, no...” you muttered.

 

“Why not, ___? Come on, you like Jongin, don't you?”

 

“Wh-what?”

 

“What?”

 

You turned away abruptly, trying hard to hide the sudden blush that hit your face. “Nothing. Anyway, don't call Jongin. That's just... that's just inconsiderate, Sehunnie.”

 

“Jeez, ___, do you hate hanging out with us that much?” He frowned, propping his chin on his hand. “Or is it Jongin? You actually hate him, don't you?”

 

“Wha-? Sehun, stop saying ridiculous things, okay? I don't...” You exhaled a little too loudly. “I don't hate Jongin, and I don't hate hanging out with you guys.”

 

“Then you'll go?”

 

Your eyebrows knitted together, and the sigh that left your mouth wasn't relieving at all. “Fine, Sehunnie. I'll go.”

 

---

 

The ring of the doorbell made you wince. Even from all the way up in your room, you could hear the shuffling of feet as someone ran to get the door. Taking a deep, even breath and smoothing your shirt one final, unnecessary time, you pulled your door open and headed to the stairs.

 

They looked right up at you as you approached, and you made like a mannequin at the top of the steps.

 

“___, Jongin's here!”

 

You really didn't need the introduction. You definitely saw Jongin. He met your eyes as you attempted to hold your dignity together wobbling down the stairs. “H-hey.”

 

“Hey.” A brilliant smile lit up his handsome face. “How's it going?”

 

You nearly tripped over the last step at his simple question. Just the final one too, naturally. Jongin and Sehun's arms both shot out to support you as you steadied yourself on your feet.

 

“Oi, you okay?” your brother asked worriedly.

 

“Fine! Uhh, fine. I'm fine!” you squeaked, blushing at the concern on Jongin's features.

 

“You sure?” Belatedly, you realized that he was still holding your hand, and you pulled it away with a gasp.

 

“Y-yeah. I'm sure. Sorry, just lost my balance for a sec there.”

 

Sehun patted your back gently. “Jeez, ___. Be careful.”

 

You only blushed as they shared a laugh. “I told you I'm fine,” you muttered with a pout. “Anyway, where is this girl I've been hearing about?”

 

“Yeah, good point,” Jongin piped in, nudging Sehun's arm with a grin. “It is a girl, right? It's not just gonna be Luhan-hyung showing up to bubble tea with us?”

 

Sehun brushed the jokes away with a scowl as you snickered at his expense. “I told you that you both know her, remember? Come on, I'm gonna go pick her up.”

 

“You mean 'we're' gonna go pick her up,” you corrected.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Let's just go.”

 

---

 

You didn't like sitting in the back. You especially didn't like sitting in the back with Jongin, where there was a noticeably awkward silence. Not that the two of you didn't have conversations, but the circumstances definitely made you a little wary. After all, when you tagged along before, it wasn't while Sehun was with a date. Usually, he just let you suffer all by yourself or invited you along when he and his friends got together. You didn't mind that; Sehun's friends were all funny, and, being the youngest along with Sehun, they treated you well. This time, it was like forcing you and Jongin to be the second couple in a double date. Which clearly wasn't the situation, no matter how much you wanted it to be.

 

While Sehun carried a light conversation with his date – a sweet girl named Jieun who you only really saw around the school – you sat tapping your foot in the back and staring out the window while you fought off the unruly butterflies that decided to wreak havoc on your stomach.

 

It was going to be a really long afternoon...

 

---

 

“Hey...”

 

You twitched at the hiss in your ear, whipping around to find Jongin leaned over your shoulder with a tiny smile. “J-Jongin?”

 

“Look,” he whispered, jabbing a finger towards your brother. You found Sehun leaned casually over Jieun's tiny frame, one of his arms propped against the counter as she asked him questions about the place. “I don't really think he needs us here, do you?”

 

Your face heated. Well, it wasn't like you wanted to be there either, but did he have to sound so unhappy about being around? “N-no, I guess not.”

 

“I apologize on his behalf for dragging you out here with us, by the way,” he said, giving you an apologetic quirk of his mouth. “I keep telling him that it's unfair to you that he keeps doing this to you.”

 

“What, making me feel awkward?” You shrugged. “It's okay. He's my brother. I guess it happens.”

 

Jongin let out a quiet chuckle. “I guess so.”

 

“He does it to you, too.”

 

“Yeah. He's my best friend. I'm kind of required to play wingman now and then.”

 

“I'm so sorry...” You dropped your voice to a murmur for dramatic effect.

 

Jongin scoffed with amusement. “I'm even more sorry for you, believe me.”

 

“___!” Sehun hopped over to you excitedly, grabbing your shoulders.

 

“What? Where's Jieun?”

 

“She went to the bathroom while I wait for the orders. But guess what?”

 

“What?” you drawled.

 

“She said she's glad you guys came along so she doesn't feel so awkward. See? I told you it would help!” He pushed his forehead against yours with a happy little sigh. “Thanks, ___.”

 

“Sure, Sehunnie. Anytime, I guess.”

 

“And you too, Jongin!” Sehun added cheerily, picking his head up to smirk at his best friend. “Jieun said it helps to see another couple around so she doesn't have to feel weird.”

 

The blush that swallowed your face was ferocious. “Wh-wha-what?”

 

“Oh, yeah...” Sehun's hand came up to rub the back of his head, his eyes darting about the relatively empty bubble tea shop. “She seemed to think that you two were a couple too, and it made her feel better, so...”

 

“So you didn't think to correct her?” Your voice rose in pitch.

 

“No, but it's okay, ___! Right, Jongin-ah?” You couldn't see what Jongin's response was. Hell, you were too embarrassed to. But apparently, it mollified Sehun because he just leaned down to wrap his arms around you. “I love you, sis. Thanks for doing this for me.”

 

“S-Sehun-” Oh, no. He hardly ever did cute stuff like this in public. It meant he was really thankful, and it was hard to be mad at him when he was giving you his cutest grateful, pouty-faced expression.

 

“Don't be mad anymore, okay?” Sehun smiled, rubbing his nose affectionately against your cheek before planting a soft kiss there.

 

There was just no way you could stay mad at him. It was so unfair. “Okay,” you grumbled. “I'm not mad.”

 

“Thanks, ___-ah~”

 

“Sure, Sehunnie. Just go get your girlfriend, alright?” You nodded your head towards the bathrooms, where she was just emerging from.

 

Like an eager puppy, Sehun turned and met up with her. You couldn't help but be happy for him because she looked just as keen to talk to him again. You just watched helplessly as they took their order and sat down in an empty booth to chatter with each other. Meanwhile, Jongin sidestepped you and took your drinks from the smiling man with a nod. “Thank you.”

 

He turned to hand you your bubble tea, and you accepted it with a heavy sigh. “I'm so sorry, Jongin. I don't even know what to-”

 

“Don't worry about it, ___.” He waved away your apology with a laugh. “Come on, let's just go sit down.”

 

Biting your lip with hesitation, you followed. He didn't seem particularly upset, but then, maybe he was just being patient with his best friend. He seemed to understand that it wasn't your fault at all that Sehun would just let Jieun believe something like that.

 

Jongin slid into a separate booth, patting the place beside him as he took a hearty sip of his bubble tea. You caught Sehun and Jieun's looks and flashed them an extra bright smile before sidling in beside Jongin with a quiet groan. “Jongin-”

 

“Maybe we should start coming here.”

 

“I'm-” You were once again cut off in the middle of your second attempt at an apology speech, but this interruption just left you completely lost. “Huh?”

 

Jongin smirked. “I said maybe we should start coming here.”

 

“W-we already do...?”

 

“Yeah, but by ourselves.”

 

What exactly was he trying to say? “Y-yeah.”

 

Jongin nodded, turning his body to face you fully. “I mean without Sehun, ___. You and me. By ourselves.”

 

You simply gawked at him, and he chuckled.

 

“Sehun gave us his okay, didn't he? Kind of, anyway. Besides, I figured we've spent enough time playing his wingmen that we deserve some time to ourselves.” He took another sip of his bubble tea, running a hand over his cheek with a cough. “Only if you want to, of course. No pressure.”

 

“A-are you serious?” You wanted to jump out of the booth to see if anyone else was hearing this because you weren't sure you wanted to believe it quite yet.

 

Was Kim Jongin really asking you out? Alone? Not as tag-alongs to Sehun's little dates, but together, the two of you...

 

“Only if you think you're gonna say yes. If not, then maybe we can both pretend I didn't just embarrass myself in front of my best friend's sister.”

 

“Jongin...”

 

He turned his head to glance at you from the corner of his eye. “Hm?”

 

“But why?”

 

“Why...?”

 

“Why now?”

 

He raised an eyebrow, then did some sort of odd twitching thing before biting his bottom lip. “Uhh... Well, I guess you haven't noticed that I like you then, huh?” He stuck the bubble tea straw in his mouth but didn't drink; it was just a distraction.

 

“Me? What? Since when?”

 

The snorting sound that came from him was a cross between a laugh and a cough, and it still managed to be unbelievably charming. “A while, ___.”

 

“B-but Sehun-” You pointed through the booth, towards your brother on the other side. “He never-”

 

“I... I made him swear not to tell you, ___. Why do you think I agree to such crazy things? It's my secret payment to him, in a way...”

 

You gaped, blinking slowly at the rosiness settling over his tanned cheeks. “So does that mean you're asking me out?”

 

Okay, so it sounded like a much more reasonable question in your head, but you had to clarify. Before you let your hopes completely shoot up to the moon.

 

“Y-yeah,” he mumbled. “Yeah, I am.”

 

You couldn't even answer him. You just hopped up from your seat, darted to Sehun's side and grabbed your unsuspecting brother's face with both hands to plant a kiss right on his cheek. “Thank you, Sehun. Thank you.”

 

---

 

end note: xD OMG, I don't know. I might as well have called this a Kai oneshot. The original prompt I gave myself (in terms of the 'Twelve Kisses' theme) was 'brother', so... yeah, there we go. I hope you all enjoyed anyway. Sets up for Kai's oneshot.