Cinnamon & Lipstick by FM Static

On Thursdays, Kyungsoo works the morning shift. And he was sure Jongin didn’t know this, so he figures that he could just come back at the usual time Jongin stops by. At noon, Kyungsoo is munching on his cinnamon bun, accompanying with it strawberries and black coffee. “Hey, what’s up?” Luhan sits beside Kyungsoo, who also worked earlier today.

“Not much,” Kyungsoo replies

“Really? Then stop sighing,” Luhan smiles. Kyungsoo hadn’t even realized that he was sighing.

“I didn’t notice I was. Sorry about that,” Kyungsoo says.

“Anyway,” Luhan picks a strawberry from Kyungsoo’s plate. “I heard you’ve been going with this guy recently.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he chokes on the piece of bread he failed to swallow. “What? Where did you even hear that?”

Luhan chuckles, looking contented. “From Yixing.”

“From the manager?” Kyungsoo sighs in disbelief. “How did he even…”

“Just because he’s a nice guy doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a pair of eyes.” Luhan takes Kyungsoo’s cup of coffee and drinks a bit. “And don’t worry, Kyungie, we are totally rooting for you!”

“Enough of that,” Kyungsoo says, rolling his eyes before he also chuckles. “How’s your life?”

“Me? Oh, same old, same old,” Luhan looks at his fingernails, grabbing a nail file from his pocket. “Right now I’m dating a highschooler. Pretty cute, actually.”

Kyungsoo laughs quite hard; he knew Luhan was the playboy type but he never expected him to date a highschooler.

“Hey, I’m serious about him. I think I love him or something,” Luhan’s cheeks suddenly flush with the color crimson. Kyungsoo finds himself laughing again, but he also feels slightly jealous over Luhan, the guy who gets into everyone’s pants (both men and women), because he had finally found someone he came to love.

“And the best part is that because I like him so much, I do not want to ASAP. I appreciate the other parts of him, you know? Not just his body...although my oh my, those abs are just...” Luhan is lost in thought, but he quickly goes back to talking after a couple of blinks. “I feel like a freaking Kyungsoo, and he’s like, my first love.” Luhan giggles, now typing furiously on his phone, probably texting the love of his life or something.

Kyungsoo was always astounded by the amount of things Luhan does whenever they talk. One time, while Luhan and Kyungsoo were chatting, Luhan was also talking on the phone and blending iced coffee. He was also fixing his apron. And when the idle Kyungsoo paused to ask Luhan if he was really listening, with him being busy and all, Luhan said yes. He even managed to repeat all the things Kyungsoo had said. Multitasking was sort of Luhan’s talent, Kyungsoo concludes.

At about two o’clock in the afternoon, Jongin enters the café and Kyungsoo immediately notices him. Kyungsoo is just sitting down, as a customer, and feels sad because Jongin doesn’t notice him, since he just whizzes past Kyungsoo, entering the comfort room. A few minutes pass and Kyungsoo sees no sign of Jongin.

“Is this seat taken?”

Kyungsoo hears a familiar voice, and looks up to see Jongin. Kyungsoo’s jaw drops, trying to make sense of the sight before him. He stares at Jongin, not knowing what to feel. He then realizes that what he’s doing is probably really rude, so he stops. As he tries to keep a straight face, he says, “Y-yeah, sure, have a seat,” Kyungsoo gestures towards the chair in front of him.

“Yeah, I know. I guess I’m trying something new,” Jongin says as he sits down. He runs his fingers through his long, now blonde, hair.

Even after a few minutes, Kyungsoo still can’t believe it. He can’t believe that it's Jongin who is sitting in front of him. And he can’t believe how weird Jongin really is. Kyungsoo takes a few moments to take it in. He starts with Jongin’s hair--on second thought--wig. It’s blonde and it’s shiny and it’s long. His eyes trail down to Jongin’s face, which was slightly powdered, eyes emphasized with eyeliner; and he moves down to what he’s wearing. He is wearing a long-sleeve white blouse, his neck enveloped in a bright blue ribbon, partnered with a knee-length turquoise skirt. Kyungsoo can not fathom the situation, so he feels the dying need to ask Jongin, “…How? Why?”

Jongin laughs. “It’s a social experiment.”

Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows.

“It really is! Well, I have another reason. A long explanation, I guess. But first off, it’s not like I regularly go around the city wearing this strutting, because I don’t, okay? So yeah, it’s about my ex. I’m pathetic, I know. I saw him kissing someone last night. And get this—it was a girl. Then I realized he lied to me, because I’m pretty sure he told me he was a full-fledged boy-lover. So I decided to see life in the eyes of a woman. And it’s practically the same, although I spent more time brushing my hair and I almost poked my eye with those pencil make-up things, so life blurred for a bit for me,” Jongin laughs, his smile evident as he remembers his mishap.

But Kyungsoo feels uneasy. He isn’t sure why, though. It could be because Jongin (indirectly) admitted that he still loved his ex-boyriend. Or it could be the fact that Kyungsoo felt Jongin’s sadness. To Kyungsoo, Jongin's cross-dressing and attempts to laugh genuinely are more like a cry for help; more like a cry of “I can’t get over my ex and now, I’m so lost.” Jongin’s loneliness somehow reaches out to Kyungsoo. There really isn’t an honest-to-goodness person in this world, Kyungsoo thinks. Because, before him was the most honest man he has ever met, and this guy is currently lying. 

Kyungsoo can’t take it; he feels his heart shatter. Slowly, he reaches for Jongin’s hand and holds it.

I don’t know what happened between the two of you. But I want you to know that I love you.

In the end, Kyungsoo says nothing and just continues to hold Jongin’s rough hand.

Jongin starts crying. “I’m sorry…I know, I cry too much…Kyungsoo, I…I’m honestly so lost right now. I want to get over it. But I can’t stop thinking about him, about us, about what we were before all this happened. I don’t know who I am anymore, because he was like, a part of me.” Jongin wails, holding the other boy’s hand tight.

Kyungsoo remains silent. He slowly grazes his thumb over the back of Jongin’s hand. More than winning Jongin’s heart, Kyungsoo wants to help him. 

a/n: hey guys i think there might be a delay with my saturday chapter since im not finished with my friday chap it's about 2,000 words as i see it. so yeah pretty busy weekend, sorry for the bit of delay ;nnn; and yeah the story is kinda slow i just noticed lol well a lot of romances dont happen overnight hmm especially this one ;u; 

have a nice weekend everyone

<3