Jongdae sighed for the umpteenth time that day; he was tired and he wanted to go home, curl up in his covers and never leave his bed. The sound of someone clearing up his throat made him look up from his computer. A smiling man greeted him, propped up in the wall that separated their cubicles.

-“Daydreaming again, Jongdae?” – Joonmyun asked, gazing intently at Jongdae.

-“It’s a boring day, hyung” – Jongdae sighed (again).

-“You’re right about it” – nodded Joonmyun, losing his smile but recovering it after a second. His eyes twinkled and Jongdae could almost see the bulb above his head signaling an idea.

-“Yixing and I are going to the night market today, wanna come?” – The excitement made Joonmyun smile even more brightly and bounce on his spot.

Jongdae hesitated. A little change of scenery could do him good, but at the same time he didn’t want to be the third wheel (He knew his hyung had feelings towards their Chinese coworker, no matter how many times he denied it, he noticed the glances Joonmyun sent towards the other when he thought he wasn’t looking)

-“I don’t know hyung...”

-“Come on Jongdae ah, it’ll be fun”

Jongdae snorted at his hyung’s overexcitement and nodded hesitatingly.

Joonmyun clapped his hands and laughed happily while Jongdae sighed, already regretting having said yes.

*  ~  *

Minseok woke up startled and with his heart beating fast, giving a scare to his roommate.

-“Are you ok, gege?”  - asked Zitao, concerned.

-“I’m... fine” – said Minseok with a small voice, his right hand clutching his shirt, feeling his heart calming a little bit – “I just have this sudden urge to go to the night market, I think HE will be there...”

Zitao looked at him with his eyes wide open and a look of excitement on his face.

-“Are you sure gege?”

Minseok looked down at his pinky finger, where a red ribbon shone brightly, making him smile.

-“Yes, I am sure”

*  ~  *  ~  *

It was almost the time he had agreed to meet Joonmyun and Yixing at the night market so, with a resigned pout he grabbed his keys, his wallet and his coat and left the apartment, shutting the door afterwards.

It was a cold night so he put on his coat and took the bus. Not even 5 minutes later, he was at the night market.

-“Here, Jongdae-ah!”

He heard a voice yelling his name and looked up, seeing Joonmyun waving frantically at him with a big smile and a boy next to him; Jongdae smiled and walked towards them.

-I’m so glad you could make it” – Joonmyun hugged him tightly, the smile never leaving his lips; he didn’t notice Yixing stiffening at the hug, but Jongdae surely did and disentangled himself from Joonmyun’s embrace, a shy smile on his lips.

-“Yeah, I told you I would be here, didn’t I?”

-“Well yes, of course, of course” – Joonmyun clapped his hands once and grabbed Jongdae’s and Yixing’s wrists – “Let’s go then! Before all the food runs out!”

Jongdae chuckled at his hyung’s antics but let himself be dragged away. A person clashed with his shoulder and he let out a surprised yell.

-“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!” – A boy with slightly chubby cheeks and orange hair apologized.

-“It is ok, no harm done” – Jongdae said, a little smile grazing his lips.

-“I’ll see you around, then” – the orange haired guy winked at him and left.

Jongdae blamed the cold chilly air when he felt his heart missing a beat.

Oblivious, oblivious Jongdae

*  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *

-“Are you sure this is a good idea?” – asked Zitao for the hundredth time that day, looking at the man his gege was staring so intently at.

-“Of course I’m sure, Tao”

-“And are you sure he’s the one?”

Minseok rolled his eyes in exasperation.

-“You saw the way the ribbon shone. I’ve told you the story and I showed you how to see it, Zitao. So yes, I’m 100% sure about this.

-“I just” – Zitao pouted and looked at the floor – “I don’t want to see you get hurt, gege”

Minseok awed and pinched the pouting boy’s cheek.

-“You’re so cute...” – he squealed (a manly squeal, of course)

-“I’m being serious, gege!" – Zitao raised his voice and glared at the other. His glare softened though, when he saw the hurt expression on his gege’s eyes.

-“I’m sorry...” – he said in a small voice – “I didn’t mean to yell at you like that.”

Minseok smiled lightly.

-“It’s ok, Tao. I understand. But I’m sure about what I’m doing. You know this only happens once and I... I can’t miss that chance”

Zitao sighed.

-“I know it but it’s...” – Tao bit his lower lip and looked at the floor. Minseok’s heart softened and his arms wrapped around the taller man who, despite his rather cold and mean appearance on the outside, once you get to know him you discover he’s nothing but a cute (and sometimes whiny) little panda. Minseok sighed and tightened his arms around the other, smiling when he felt Tao hugging him back.

-“What would I do without you, my little panda?”

-“Probably die of hunger since you can’t cook to save yourself, gege” – Tao smirked.

-“Yah!” – Minseok smacked Tao’s shoulder, offense written all over his face.

Both men laughed at their hearts’ content. Once they calmed down, Minseok looked at Tao; his eyes showed nothing but firmness and determination. Tao sighed.

-“Go” - The smile Minseok gifted him with made him smile as well, hoping against hope this would be it.

He really wanted his older brother to be happy.

A/N: I seriously planned for this to be a one shot... But then, it kind of started to write itself and I have some ideas that I feel will work well with this.

Whoever guesses the reference I wrote here to a legendary belief concerning ribbons wins a cookie! ^^

I hope you liked this chapter, comment if you like, I like comments :3

XiuChen is L.O.V.E ~

~PepperPumpkin