“Can I ask you for some advice?” Taemin shifted awkwardly in his spot across from Ruki after treating the older boy to some ice cream. “Sure Tae-chan. What is it?” He the ice cream gratefully, eyeing the boy. “Wh- what do you do when you like someone?” He asked, clearing his throat. “ them.” Ruki answered in a nonchalant tone, far louder than he should have. Taemin’s hands scrambled up to meet the boys shameless lips, explaining that he wasn’t allowed to say those things out loud in public, especially in a busy parlour. “W-well what about if they don’t know you like them?” Ruki looked away as if conjuring up the proper response. “You tell them you like them,” He leaned in smugly, smirking as he finished in a hushed, whispered tone, “and then you them.” Taemin pouted, rolling his eyes as Ruki seemed to be satisfied with his clearly clever remark. Ruki was definitely not the first person Taemin would ever come to for advice, but he was limited to help. “Ruki, I’m trying to be serious here.” Ruki nodded apologetically. “Okay, okay, fine. Well I don’t know how you’d do it. See, I always just come out to the person saying ‘Hey, I like you. Do you want to go out with me?’ and wait for their response. I don’t really beat around the bush. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? They burn down your house? They murder your family? They sell you on the black market?” He shook his head,” They just say no.” Taemin swirled his spoon around in his ice cream, staring at it as he realised Ruki’s explanation didn’t make it seem so bad. “But what if it ruins your friendship?” He spoke up. “Well that’s a risk you’re going to have to take. If they reject you, it’s clear you’ll get over them one day, so it shouldn’t matter in the end to them because friends are still friends.” Taemin thought about it some more before being prodded with a spoon clean. “So,” Ruki chimed, “when are you going to ask me out?” He smiled as confusion traced Taemin’s face. “What are you talking about Ruki? N-no, I wasn’t talking about y-you!” Ruki pouted as he leaned back, wiggling his shoulders. “Tae-chan, you’re so mean!” He soon laughed it off; spooning himself more of the delicious treat. “So who’s the girl you have a crush on? Classmate? Co-worker? The girl next door?” He listed, watching the younger blush. Taemin looked around the room a few times as if questioning the room if he should trust Ruki enough with his secret. Before motioning Ruki to lean in, he himself moved forward, his lips fell a few centimeters short of Ruki’s ear. “It’s actually… It’s actually a boy…” Taemin trailed off. This peaked Ruki’s interest as he leaned back, scanning the younger’s face of any hint of a lie. He finally concluded that the truth had been spoken. “Who could it be-” His own thought’s cut him off as he gasped, jabbing the spoon in Taemin’s direction. “It couldn’t be tall, dark, and handsome who helped you with homework, could it?!” After analysing his reaction, he covered his mouth, not believing the sudden plot twist offered in front of him. “Oh Tae-chan, you’re so nasty behind that cute face of yours~” He teased. Taemin’s embarrassment got the best of him as he reached for his bag, whipping his bangs over his eyes. “Ruki, if you’re just going to make fun of me, I’m going to go somewhere else for help!” He began to stand up but was stopped by Ruki’s hand on his wrist. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I was just surprised. I didn’t think that he was, well, your type.” Taemin seated himself once more, accepting the other’s apology. “What do you mean ‘my type’?” Taemin asked. “Well, I always thought you’d find yourself some short, cutesy, girly girl. Someone like yourself, you know? I never thought you’d be into macho, tall, smart guys. Then again, opposites attract, right? Anyways, did you tell him you like him?” Taemin shook his head, such a small obstacle already blocking his way. “Then go do it.” He looked at the older boy in disbelief. “I can’t do that! I don’t know if he likes me; I don’t even know if he’s gay!” Ruki has a look of disappointment, as if he expected more from this boy who’s never been in love before. “Well did you try hinting at it? You know, like saying ‘hey, I heard a gay couple moved in down the street’ and seeing what he responds with?” It didn’t process with Taemin at all. “What does that have to do with anything?” Ruki reached over the table, squishing the boy’s chubby cheeks together. He added a heavy emphasis on each word to follow. “Why are you so clueless? If he says something like ‘Ugh, it’s horrible. Too many fags walking the streets nowadays’ then you probably have no chance with him right now, at least until his homophobic views change, whereas if he says something like ‘Yeah, that’s really great. I’m looking forward to meeting them.’ He’s probably in the grey-neutral zone. If he says something like ‘I hope I can join in and have a with them.’ You better show up on his doorstep with a ribbon on your head as soon as possible. Or mine. Whichever works?” Taemin hadn’t thought of subtle things like that. It’s true that a homophobic and a pro-homo person would respond differently to the topic. “So I can see how he feels about gay people that way, right? But how do I know how he feels about me?” Ruki shrugged. “You ask.” Taemin looked hopelessly into the taller boy’s eyes, frowning. “But then he would know I like him. Why else would someone ask that? Isn’t there another way to do it?” Ruki moved his empty bowl to the side and grabbed Taemin’s, pulling it over and offering himself some of the boy’s melting ice cream. “Start warming up to him, I guess? Start off with little nudges and bumps and then hugs and gifts. I mean, Christmas is in a couple of weeks, why not give him a present?” Taemin nodded along to the ideas. “We’ve already slept together.” He added. Ruki nearly choked on the ice cream flowing down his throat, his eyes shooting open. “You’ve already slept with him and you’re still asking me on advice about whether he likes you and how to tell him?!” The shock raised his voice, garnering unwanted attention before he toned down again. Taemin quickly waved his hands in front of himself, realizing the misunderstanding he had created. “No, no, no! What I meant by that was that he’s slept over at my house and I’ve slept over at his! We also slept in the same bed on a trip.” Ruki cleared his throat of the sweet remnants, drying his eyes of the tears flooding the corners. “You could have been a tad bit more specific Tae-chan… Well I mean, given that, it’s clear to say you’re pretty close friends.” He used a napkin to             wipe his mouth. “We almost kissed once…” Taemin recalled. “I don’t know if it was anything to him though. I think it was just the atmosphere.” Just the atmosphere, he repeated, his heart breaking a little at the thought. “What do you mean the atmosphere?” Taemin recalled the entire night. “He took me out for dinner in this really nice restaurant and then we went over the lake, standing across from all the skyscrapers, and it was just the whole cityscape thing going on.” Taemin illustrated his words with the movement of his hands as he kept speaking. “It was late into the evening and the snow was lightly falling and we kind of both just leaned in…” Ruki interrupted, pointing out a flaw in Taemin’s story. “Then how what makes it a ‘we almost kissed’?” he asked. “Ah, when we got really close, a crying little boy hugged my leg, crying that he couldn’t find his mother. We spent until early morning sitting with the kid until his mom found us.” Ruki chuckled, “That seems like something out of a drama!” Taemin nodded. “It was actually because of that that I came into terms with the fact that I liked him.” Ruki tapped his spoon on Taemin’s hand, calling for his attention once more. “Wait, you’re saying you wanted to kiss him before you were even aware that you liked him? He leaned in too, right? No matter how influential the atmosphere was, there had to be at least one percent of his brain that wanted to kiss you because it was you that was with him. This is painful, Tae-chan. You two like each other and you can’t even connect the puzzle pieces. It’s like putting two and two together! I’m confident if you just told him that you like him, he would respond positively and you’d date forever and ever!” He symbolized the happiness of the situation with his arms shooting up towards the ceiling. “But I’m not.” Taemin stated, dampening Ruki’s actions. “I just… I just don’t think he’ll ever see me that way. I’ll always be his dongsaeng and nothing more.” He brushed the long strands of his auburn hair behind his ear, sighing. “Well why don’t you go on a date with him and see his response?” Taemin’s fingers pressed against his head as if he had explained it already. “Going on a date would lead to the assumption that a like him!” The waitress interrupted them as she collected the bowls, asking if anyone had wanted seconds. Taemin waved her off but Ruki ordered some more. As she left, their conversation resumed. “Well he won’t know it’s a date. But you will.” Taemin looked at Ruki. “How would that work?” The confused tone in his voice was evident. “Tell him you want to hang out, but plan it out like a date. Go to movies, hint at him that you want to be walked home, maybe hold hands, that kind of stuff. And then at the end you tell him you like him. You have to tell him either way, so at least build up for the moment.” Taemin understood, watching as the sun’s rays broke through the window. “So what makes a date, well, good?” Ruki felt refreshed by the innocence. “You both have to be having fun.” He stated simply. “People think the most important part is for the other person to have fun, but if you’re not enjoying yourself too, the other person can feel it and then they can feel like they’re a bother, ruining everything. And be cute, dress up too! You know what; I’ll even help you the day of! You’ll be so irresistible and kissable and he’ll want to eat you all up!” Ruki clapped his hands at his devious plan. “So what do I do? I mean, where do people go on dates?” He felt a bit more hopeful now that plans were being made. “Well I mentioned a place before: the movies. Go see some new movie that came out. There are constantly new ones. It should be in the later afternoon so you have all day to prepare! You can get your tickets then too and everything. I’ll even come over in the morning to do your hair and makeup.” His finger’s shuffled through his hair as Ruki’s second order arrived. “When is a good day to go the movies?” Ruki spent a few seconds coating his lips in chocolate before it off. “A Friday is good because it won’t be bad if you stay up late since the next day is the weekend. Do you know what kinds of movies he likes?” Taemin thought about it before coming to no conclusion. “No. Whenever we watch movies, we watch all sorts of movies. No specific kind that I noticed he liked.” He admitted. “Text him right now and ask him to the movies! Also, ask him which genre he likes.” Ruki ordered, pointing to Taemin’s cellphone that took its place on the table. His hand fell upon the screen, lighting it up as he prepared it for sending a message. “Try this: ‘Hey, whatever you call him, are you free Friday? Let’s go to the movies together!’ and put a heart at the end! It seems cuter~” Taemin paused at the end, blushing. “No heart. I don’t need to be cute!” He sent the text before Ruki could complain. They waited in silence until the phone had vibrated; Ruki started another bowl of ice cream. “What did he say?” Taemin leaned over, reading the text. “It says ‘Yeah, I’m free, but why? Do you miss me that much?’ That’s it.” He flipped the phone over in his hand, facing it towards Ruki who was drinking the melted ice cream left in his glass. “Tell him you miss him. Be cuter! Also, set a time. How about six? I think six sounds good.” Taemin turned the phone back to himself, offering the time. “He wrote ‘Six is great. How are we going to meet?’ Should I ask him to pick me up?” After receiving the elder’s approval, he did so. “You’re getting the hang of it.” Ruki teased. Taemin giggled, earning a ruffling of hair from across the table. He brought the phone up once more, as he announced. “’Sure.’ That’s good right? Of course it is. It has to be. I’m deciding it is.” He began packing his bag as his eyes landed on the table, shocked. “What… where did all these bowls come to?” Ruki looked down, flashing his large eyes at Taemin. “I was hungry… Is that bad?” Taemin counted the empty bowls and glasses spread across. “When did you manage to order ice cream twelve times?” He shrugged, leaving a few bills on the table as he got ready to leave. They began to walk out into the white streets, following the blanketed blocks. “What was your first day like, Ruki?” They walked close, sharing warmth. “It was when I was 13. I remember there was this girl, Nana-chan, a year older than me that I really liked. I was that awkward kid in class and since it was the time when you change from a kid to a teenager, I was still trying to find myself. Anyways, I asked her to the date and she said okay. I took her to a concert of a band she liked and it was not really my piece of cake but she seemed to enjoy herself. At one point, she hit it off with this one girl so I ended up being alone because I had no idea what they were talking about. In the end, she said she had fun but I wasn’t her type.” He chuckled as Taemin mumbled an ‘I’m sorry’. “Actually, funny thing is, I met her again when I was in my last year of high school. I was on my way to the store when she spotted me. By then I knew I was gay. Anyways, we started talking and she told me she was recently married. I was surprised because I never heard anything about it and she was still really young. She later told me that the person she married was the girl she met on our first date.” Taemin turned his head, shocked at the turn of events. “No way! Really? That’s so crazy.” He nodded. “Yup. I had a boyfriend, and she just married he girlfriend. I guess the date went so bad it turned both of us gay.” He joked. “But hey, thanks to that, I get to walk around town with a cute guy like you. I couldn’t be any happier~” He tossed his arm around Taemin, squeezing the boys arm. “So, wait, how were you around each other after the date? Did you still talk?” Ruki nodded. “Yeah, definitely. After that though, she treated me like her little brother though, so I had to get over her.” He watched Taemin’s shoulders slump, patting them. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you if anything goes wrong. You can come back to Japan with me~” Taemin smiled at the offer. “Alright. I’ll hold you to that.” They stopped as the light turned from green to orange to red. “So,” Ruki began, “What do you like about that guy?” A bright yellow walking man lit up across the street from them. “To be honest, I don’t think I can tell you. I mean, I’ve never liked anyone before, so what’s it really about? Uh… I guess I like the way he treats me so gently. He teases me sometimes, but I don’t really mind. I kind of even like it. He takes me out and treats me to a lot of things. Once he called me beautiful and it made me feel amazing.” He smiled at the thought, blushing. “What about me?” Ruki turned his head. “Huh?” Ruki pinched the shorter boy’s nose. “What do you like about me? I want to hear some nice things too.” The boy hummed, thinking out loud. “Hmm, I like how you’re very outgoing, not very shy. I like how bold your sense of style is.” He pointed to the high leather platforms on which the tall boy was walking with. “I like how your hair is so well taken care of and styled and how you do things spontaneously.” Ruki felt his grin grow at the sentence. “Really? A lot of people tell me it’s a bad thing and call me out on it.” Taemin shook his head. “I like it. That way, you follow what your heart tells you and you never miss out on your dreams.” Ruki’s misty chuckle escaped as he blushed. “Geez, Tae-chan! You make my heart swoon. I’m sure you’ll do fine with your crush. I think you’re definitely ready as it is to confess. I believe in you.” He patted his head. “I’ll try my best then!”

A/N: *Gasp* Ruki's serious side has shown! With all this advice and help, will a confession be in order next chapter? Find out next time, on False Awakening!

P.S: School's starting in a day, what?