They kept quiet during the cab ride, save for Jongin giving the driver the address and Luhan paying the fee.

“Thank you very much.” They both bowed, as they got out the car and closed the doors.

“Well that wasn’t at all awkward.” Jongin admitted to, making Luhan laugh a little bit.

“Not at all.” He replied, the sarcasm not at all obvious. He leaned into Jongin, as he put an arm around his bicep and let himself be lead down the street and into an alley way, that was surprisingly clean as far as alleyways go. Luhan trusted Jongin, but still couldn’t resist making a wise crack at this point.

“Jongin, I know you think I’m a cheap first date but, this?”

“Oh hush, and open your eyes hon. Who said this was a first date anyway?” Luhan felt a little stupid that way, and even more so when he finally took notice of the lit doorway to what Luhan (correctly) thought to be a restaurant.

“A restaurant behind a restaurant?” Luhan asked.

“You bet your sweet baby.” Jongin sassed.

“Jongin, this is not the first date I imagined even you could plan.”

“Thank you? And again with the first date.” Jongin said, supressing a laugh as he gestured for Luhan to go in first.

“Chivalry will get you no where.” He flounced.

“From the mouth of our resident feminist.” Jongin said, giving Luhan’s a whole-hearted slap.

“Aye!” Luhan yelped as he glared over his shoulder.

“That was hot.” Jongin winked, holding his hands out to a table they could sit at. Luhan identified the small yellow restaurant as more of a café-pizzeria given everyone’s orders and the size of the place. Luhan would’ve liked to work here if it would fit all of his friends in it, but he imagined it to get quite hot in the summer, with the brick and mortar wood fire he could see as the feature of the kitchen.

“This place is sweet.” He observed, the coffee-shop appeal of small eating establishments getting to him.

“Not as sweet as you~” Jongin said, and Luhan literally ‘awwed’ at that.

“Brownie points for you.” He said honestly, as he reached for Jongin and they both took to palming each other’s hand and sitting silently for a while. He didn't know what preceeded hand-holding, but something about the mood of this place, and the lack of stress associated with living at Jongin's or being at work, seemed to work to numb Luhan's sense of boundaries. He looked around the place, taking in the bustling wait staff, and now that he had experience in the restaurant business, he could identify the different roles of the work force here, which entertained him for a while.

Jongin did nothing but take the hand Luhan gave him and held it in both hands, tracing the knuckles with his index finger and smoothing over the creases in the underside of his fingers. Tonight, the scene at the bar not withstanding, his mind wasn't filled with one-hundred ways to Sunday of how to strip Luhan bare and desecrate him in only the most carnal and hedonistic ways. Instead, he just wanted to sit here with Luhan, tracing his new cohabitant's knuckles, and if they even spoke a word to each other, that would be a bonus. It was, nice to not have to be working so hard for his attention. Now, it could just be the two of them, the people in the background making perfectly adequate white noise to the two of them.

“So about the whole thing…” He prompted, snapping Luhan’s attention back to him with the ‘s’ word.

“Yes, what are we going to do about that?” Luhan said in all ‘seriousness’.

“Well we could discuss it over drinks, and a nice wood-fire pizza.” Jongin suggested, tracing the same knuckles again as he didn’t look up from Luhan’s dainty digits. Luhan smiled and ate up Jongin with his eyes, making him hungry for something neither drinks nor a wood-fire pizza could satisfy.

“Sounds good. You order, I’m just a passenger here.” Luhan didn’t think he’d stopped smiling since Jongin had pulled him into this alleyway and brought him here. Jongin ordered appropriately, and Luhan had no problem with a Hawaiian and a bottle of wine he was unsure as to the price of.

“A little merlot never hurt anyone.” Jongin said.

“Not in appropriate quantities anyway.”

“I don't feel like getting stone drunk tonight.”

“How about, slightly tipsy?”

“I’ll drink to that.” Jongin smiled. When the waiter brought the bottle and two glasses, Jongin stood up and shooed him away after he’d set the items on the table, much to the waiter’s dismay. Jongin didn’t serve wine often from the cocktail bar, but that didn’t necessarily mean he didn’t know how to pour a glass of (in Luhan’s experience) liquid relaxation. Luhan waited patiently for his glass, which Jongin gave him before he poured his own glass and sat back down.

“To getting only slightly tipsy.” Luhan winked.

“Let’s.” Clink.

“Mmm, that’s a nice bottle. Italian?”

“No, Portuguese. But hey, what do I know about wines?” Jongin shrugged wittily.

“What you don’t know about wines you make up for ten fold in other things.” Luhan assured.

“You have no idea.” He winked from over his glass as he took another sip. “You know, I never thought twice about taking you out on a date to a restaurant, when the both of us are waiters.”

“So this is a first date?” Luhan eyed, slightly relieved that all his prep hadn’t been for nothing.

“Fine, it’s a date.” Jongin admitted. “You caught me. Just accept the apology for taking you to work instead of a relaxing night out.”

“Jongin this is more than amazing, don’t worry about me.”

“It’s hard not to, trouble maker.”

“Waah! Where did that come from?!” Luhan retorted, only making Jongin laugh.

The night only got better from there. Jongin had failed to call a cab in advance, so they ended up sitting on the slapper until it came. Luhan was wrapped in two coats, given that Jongin was his own personal radiator, and Luhan was now the ‘Ice Queen’ according to Jongin.

“You melt my heart away.” Luhan said, but Jongin told him otherwise.

“That’s the merlot talking sweetie.”

“I only had two glasses.”

“You are a lightweight then.”

“I beg to differ.” Luhan said, reaching out of his entrenchment of coats and pressing a kiss to Jongin's lips.

“That was proof you are inebriated.”

“No it wasn’t.” Luhan smiled.

“The cab is here.” Jongin said, getting up and changing the subject.

“Take me to your place then.” Luhan held up an arm, using the other one to keep his impediment of warmth from falling off and letting himself freeze to death.

“It’s your place too you know.” Jongin said, helping Luhan in the cab. He didn’t reply to that, not feeling like he had an appropriate answer to keep everyone’s feelings in check, and really didn’t feel like trying to answer his fears of cohabitating in a flat with the most amazing man Luhan had ever met. It wasn't a long list of people that he'd let himself become involved with over the years, but whatever was here, right now with Jongin, he thought was the best of them all. The cab ride was full of silent chatter and Luhan once again sought refuge in Jongin’s body, letting him play with the undulating strands of his hair, as he listened to the stable rhythm of Jongin’s heart beat.

He could smell the caramel of his skin through the thin shirt, which after a high of alcohol-induced hormones, was now on a guilt trip downhill, because he realised that Jongin must be bone-chilling cold, and he’d been the one to take his coat rather selfishly. Setting it down on Jongin’s chest, he propped himself back on the coat this time and closed his eyes. He hadn’t seen Jongin’s face light up when he’d done this, nor had he heard his heart flutter like a caged butterfly, given the thickness of the coat, but he did feel the soft brushes of a finger across the nape of his neck, which never failed to make Luhan feel secure in Jongin’s arms.

Jongin paid for this fair (calling it even) and instead of trying to battle with a stumbling fool that was this tired, he jelly-legged Luhan with his forearm and caught him on the fall with the other one. Luhan’s eyelids rattled at the sudden reorientation, but being too tired to complain, he rolled into Jongin’s torso once again and buried his face in Jongin’s elbow crook, too tired to argue and about what he’d just done. They collapsed on ‘the’ bed, saying nothing more than good night, thank you for a wonderful night and losing consciousness right away.

“Good morning cutie.” Jongin cooed from the other side of the bed. Luhan opened his eyes and found, after adjusting his vision and getting his bearings, that in fact Jongin was not in front of him, something he remedied with a slow, 180-degree roll.

“Good morning.” Luhan said, letting Jongin be Jongin, as his arms scampered around his hips and pulled him in closer. Luhan went to wrap his arms around Jongin’s shoulders, but found it difficult being on his side, and he began to wonder how Jongin had done it. He didn’t have the bother to try, and just left and arm flopped on Jongin’s neck and the other in between what little space lay between them.

“Do you want to sit up?” Jongin asked.

“It’s too cold to sit up.”

“I can fix that.” Jongin suggested.

“Okay then.” Luhan now sat in Jongin’s lap, but had his legs wrapped around his waist with arms around his shoulders airily. He’d been relieved of his clothes by Jongin during the previous night, and only sat in his boxers and the Rolling Stones t-shirt Jongin had given him. Jongin on the other hand, was only in his Calvin Klein boxers, though he wore shirtless-ness very well. The same thin but filled out, slightly toned figure giving Luhan shivers. Jongin kept his arms on Luhan’s body, only this time working his way under Luhan’s shirt, the warmth very much welcomed. “So did you have fun last night?” Luhan wasn’t in the mood for this right now, but opening his eyes and seeing Jongin’s face, it was  hard to say no to an expression that was just screaming humor me.

“It was a lot of fun. A lot more fun than I thought it was going to be, thank you.” Jongin seemed happy with that.

“You know, we never had that talk about arrangements.” Jongin pressed his forehead against Luhan’s collarbone as he spoke.

“Do you really want to talk about this now?” Luhan groaned.

“How about this; let’s buy our own condoms and lube and whatever tickles your fancy, but I don’t think I’ll be having any that will get in the way of our living together.” Luhan admitted, dropping his neck back a bit and Jongin rubbed tension out of under his shoulder blades all too easily.

“Neither… Now, will you make me breakfast today?”

“That is so unromantic it’s not even funny.” Luhan sighed.

“I took care of dinner.” Jongin protested.

“We split the bill. Ugh you know what, I’ll make breakfast whatever. But first…” Luhan smiled, eyes now wide open. He used his koala bear position as leverage in taking Jongin with him, as he fell backwards in soft giggles. Their noses collided, and Jongin Eskimo kissed him when they were finally down, but Luhan would have more. He grabbed Jongin’s bottom lip in between his, on it for a millisecond or two before beckoning Jongin for more without words. The younger lowered his head slowly and pressed innocent kisses on Luhan’s lips, whose heart jumped and chest constricted at the sheer simplicity of such pleasure. Luhan opened his mouth for a little tongue-room, and Jongin obliged appropriately, the lips creating a seal that never broke, merely moving as they rolled along the bed taking turns at holding each other sweetly.

“Should we eat,” Luhan said out of breath, “or–” Jongin kissed him silently, breathing some life back into him.

“Let’s stay in bed and not do anything but this all day.”

“We have work…” Luhan regretfully informed, shattering the mood.

“You just ed yourself dear.” Jongin said flatly, as Luhan raised his back and sat up, now straddling Jongin, who had his knees up but back flat on the bed.

“I like my job very much thank you, now come on.” he said holding his hands “If you’re quick, maybe I’ll let you dress me.”

“Fat chance of me putting on your clothes now.” Jongin said, chasing Luhan down the stairs and into the kitchen, where they did anything but make breakfast or play dress ups.

“You know,” Jongin said in the car, “I still don’t have your number.” Luhan, only now realising his predicament he said he would fix when  he began living at Jongin’s place. Over a month ago.

“That may be because I don’t actually have a phone.” Jongin was struck with horror.

“How have you survived in Seoul for over a month, without a phone?”

“I have you.” Luhan came back, making Jongin blush a little and lead them to hold hands over the whole drive to work on the gearstick.

“Let’s go after work okay?”

“Alright then.” Luhan smiled, eyes staying on the road.

“You I don’t think I told you,” Jongin began, “how ing y you look in a tight shirt and a waistcoat.”

“.”

“Tease.”

“ maniac.”

“I’ve been dry for two days.”

“Oh poor you, only two days?”

“Take a hint Luhan.”

“Take a hike Jongin.” Luhan knew that the many hours Jongin wasn’t at home, he was usually getting it dirty with any easy man of his persuasion that walked in the doors of the bar (not that it was a gay bar) and calling up on old acquaintances on slow days. But he’d seen the extra attendance to himself for the last two days, and wondered if today would be any different. His thoughts ran scarce when he pulled his Chevy into it’s parking bay and work had begun, continued, and then eventually ended, like it did everyday from Monday to Saturday.

“So are you ready to be initiated into society?” Jongin bounced in his seat, Luhan afraid his excitement would wear a hole in the floor of his car, since the thing was living on borrowed time at this point.

“It’s just a phone Jongin…” Luhan said, clearly not operating on the same wavelength as Jongin.

“You say that now, but when you finally get your hands on your own little phone…” Jongin looked like a kid in a candy store, and Luhan thought he better head home instead of the mall at this point.

“Will anything even be open at this hour of night?”

“The shops are always open here, it’s the big city remember?” Sadly, Jongin was right, and Luhan could find no alternative to spend the night without injuring Jongin’s phone .

“You know I already told you I like the white one.” Luhan finally said, after they had been standing in the phone section of the store for the past twenty-five minutes.

“I know.” Jongin said, eyes intent on each model until he’d thoroughly inspected it down to the circuits.

“Jongin give me the phone.” Luhan demanded as he held out his hand for the box.

“No, you don’t want to get this wrong! It’s your phone Lu.” Jongin defended, looking with (thankfully) no physical resemblance to Golem, but definitely a possessive similarity to the precious ring. Luhan had to shake the disturbing images out of his mind to preserve his sense of self.

“No Jongin, you are trying not to get this wrong and yes, it’s my phone, now can I please have it?” Jongin complied, not entirely willingly though.

“Couldn’t give a guy a few more minutes could you.” He grumbled at the register.

“Don’t turn this into some manly mission for the perfect phone.” He snapped, “Gosh listen to me, I must sound like an idiot.” Luhan mumbled.

“But–”

“Jongin I don’t want to hear it.” Luhan interrupted. “Thank you.” He said to the woman who finally finished her own eternity of fondling his phone and the cash register she was using. One reason Luhan had condemned himself to his car cab and the open road; the lack of technology. However, the big city would persist in the need for him to acquire a phone, and it seemed pointless to argue with Jongin, much less the entire world over the worthiness of a phone in any major metropolis.

“Now just follow the instructions here on the card and you’ll be all good to go!”

“Thank you very much.” Luhan said before dragging along Jongin so he wouldn’t steal something.

“You really are heartless aren’t you?” Jongin sulked.

“You’ll thank me when we get to the Apple store.”

“Oh my gosh, are you ing with me?”

“You have no idea how much I wish I was.” Luhan meant, believe it or not, in the most innocent way.

“I promise I’ll make it worth you while, oh my god I can’t wait.” Jongin said, picking Luhan up and throwing him over his shoulder,  doing a Usain Bolt over to the Apple store a block away.

“If you ever do that again, I’m going to throw up on your .” Luhan threatened, grabbing on to the handle of the glass door to steady himself, until his stomach would settle down.

“What are we looking for?” Jongin asked. His face lit up like one of the many MacBook Pro screens beyond the glass doors.

“Laptop, decent price and good.” To that Jongin only smiled.

“They’re all good.” He said, images of Golem breaking what was left of the integrity of Luhan’s mind at this point.

“Someone ing kill me now…” Luhan said under his breath.

“Go try that one out for a second.” Jongin instructed.

“Who says you're the boss– hey!– o–okay…” Luhan submitted when Jongin had politely shoved him in front of one of the MacBook Airs. Worked! Jongin thought, hoping the distraction would work long enough for him to slip under the radar, and buy something out of the eagle eye of Luhan.

“Just that one sir?”

“Yes please, and that pair of earphones.” Jongin whispered, the shop assistant looking at him oddly, but carrying on.

Luhan had left the Apple store with a much lighter wallet and a much heavier bag, as he was now the proud owner of a thirteen-inch MacBook Air (plus the retina display Jongin had insisted on). He had been clever to keep his purchase out of Luhan’s eyes, though how he’d managed it he wasn't sure, since the box was pretty bulky in it’s own right. Jongin frequently made grandiose comments as to the size of his so when Luhan asked about the (box-shaped) tent, in his pants it was not out suspicious for him to answer with 'my '. The car ride was silent, save for the return of Jongin’s smooth talk, trying to get into Luhan’s pants all the way home. It still wasn’t working.

“You know one day…” He vowed as Luhan unlocked the door, and Jongin had his head entirely focussed on his plump little , which he didn’t pass up the opportunity of giving a solid , before running up the stairs and stuffing the box and it’s earphones in his underwear draw; somewhere Luhan would never go into.

“You know I swear I’ve grown a pants size since I started living here, my has swollen Jongin!” Luhan accused when Jongin came back down stairs.

“And who do you have to blame? No one but yourself of course, for having such a perky tush in the first place.” Jongin winked.

“You aren't going to cook tonight are you?” Luhan answered himself.

“I would if you’d just–”

“Go sit down and watch TV, I’ll be done in about half an hour.” Luhan said disappointingly, pulling out the bag of rice from the cupboard and cooking the appropriate portions for two people and leftovers, before moving on to the pork. After 20 minutes of the pork sautéing in a cocktail of store-bought bulgogi sauce, Jongin had returned to the kitchen, first pinning Luhan to the counter with his crotch, snaking his hands around his waist and then pulling tight on the apron string that he was fastening around Luhan’s waist. “Is this some deep-seeded, ual of yours?”

“No, that would include a spatula, frilly apron and you in much less clothing.” Jongin admitted shamelessly. “And possibly some lace and stockings.”

“Well we can remedy one aspect of that.” Luhan said pulling out the spatula from the draw and smacking Jongin with it, not too hard.

“Grrr…” Jongin growled playfully.

“Go sit down and set out the bowls would you?”

“Let the record show I would make a ual remark about your bossiness right now if you weren’t going to assault me again.” Jongin stated.

“Wonders never cease, Kim Jongin.” Luhan sighed.

“The food’s good.” Jongin said from under his bowl.

“It’s just bulgogi.” Luhan said, but when Jongin started eying him seriously, he thought it would be prudent to add to that last statement. “But thank you for the compliment.”

“Better.”

“So, want to help me set up my computer after dessert?”

“Oooh what’s for dessert?”

“Ice cream.”

“You better make that ice cream more appealing in the next five seconds because it sounds awful boring.”

“Ice cream out the tub?” Luhan suggested, only being eyed dangerously again. “With one spoon?”

“I’ll go for that. Sure I’ll help, it’s pretty straight forward though.”

“Thank you Jongin.” Luhan said, leaning over and planting a kiss on the edge of Jongin’s lip. Jongin vowed the next time Luhan did that, he would not let the opportunity to deepen such an experience pass.

Nothing much to say, except congratulations for surviving another update, and I hope you will comment so you can tell me what you think!

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