The words, “Let’s take a walk.”

Ordinarily Jongin wouldn’t think much about them. He went on lots of walks. Walking was a way of life on a campus where half his classes were spread out in every which direction, and sidewalks were a way of life. You needed to walk to get to the cafeteria. You needed to walk to get to the library. You had to walk a very long way and for a very long time to escape from deep thoughts, and that was only if you were lucky and your brain decided to oblige.

Sometimes he and Kyungsoo ‘went for walks’ together.

In most cases, however, it wasn’t because they had successfully tossed Baekhyun out of the dorm room for the second time in one day, and it wasn’t because they both felt like they needed some space and fresh air and the ‘walk’ was just an excuse to go somewhere… without knowing where they were going. Physically, emotionally.

Jongin wished he had grabbed a sweater. The path he and Kyungsoo happened to take was shaded. There was a slight breeze. Kyungsoo’s arms seems to erupt into goosebumps with every passing gust, and Jongin couldn’t say why it was easier to focus on this seemingly small detail than it was to think about the reason they were out for a walk.

“Let’s talk a walk.”

In story lingo, that meant, “We need to talk.”

Walk, talk. In English, at least the words rhymed.

“So.” Jongin liked to start conversations with an air of authority and decisiveness. Too bad he wasn’t skilled in putting that into practice.

Kyungsoo didn’t respond. Instead, he kept his gaze lowered to the sidewalk before them, his feet shuffling on the concrete.

They’d someone maneuvered themselves into a quieter, less peopled path. That meant more space for the deadening silence. Other than a few birds and the wind, and Kyungsoo’s shuffling feet, there was nothing to distract them.

“I think Baekhyun has an idea about us,” Kyungsoo finally spoke.

Well, that was obvious. But Jongin’s burning thought was if Baekhyun might actually be right. Just this once, couldn’t Baekhyun be prophetic? Jongin would sit through hours of torture - maybe - if he could be right, please, let him be right.

Unfortunately, all that hinged on whether or not Jongin could confess.

“I…”

He chickened out.

Kyungsoo stopped walking and looked up instead, right into Jongin’s twisted, tortured face.

“You…?” he prompted.

“I… I really like…” Jongin tried this again. It probably wouldn’t work until the third time - third time’s a charm, isn’t it? - but you couldn’t reach third if you didn’t attempt second.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo prompted again. He scrunched his nose impatiently, fingers disappearing into small round fists on either side of his jeans. He looked about as nervous as Jongin felt, and that gave Jongin enough confidence to go forward.

“I… really like your fics.”

“Huh?”

“Huh??”

“M-my fics??”

“Yeah!”

Kyungsoo snorted. Literally snorted and started walking again. Jongin had to skip a few times to catch up, so pissed with himself was he that he barely remembered how to move.

“Kyungsoo, wait!”

Kyungsoo didn’t stop. Instead, he actually sped up. It might have been a threatening gait but Jongin was blessed with longer legs. He matched his roommate’s pace and put a hand to his bare arm. He fully expected Kyungsoo to throw it off, after all, Jongin was an idiot and there was no way Kyungsoo would ever like someone as lame and stupid as him, right? Right? There were laws for these sorts of things. Whole genres devoted to heros with so little courage that they sad-napped their way through life because of a complete inability to confess! Jongin was totally that hero. He might as well move out and adopt a cat and start practicing in the mirror how to smile at the image of the love of his life moving on and falling in love with somebody else. Jongin would have songs written for him - Chanyeol could help - and he’d be the devoted best friend at Kyungsoo’s wedding and nobody would think it strange if he shed tears because weddings were such beautiful events. Then later, he’d get -faced drunk and wake up crying in an alley because if only he’d had the guts to tell Kyungsoo how much he liked him then maybe this whole scenario would never have happened-

“Jongin….? Jongin!”

He snapped out of it real quick. “What?”

He realized that, far from waking up drunk in an alleyway, he and Kyungsoo hadn’t moved. In fact, they were still standing on the sidewalk in the shade of a particularly beautiful leafy green tree, and Kyungsoo was demanding his attention. He was also cringing and pulling his hair apart with one hand. It was a bit alarming. Kyungsoo usually saved his angst for fiction.

“Are you… alright?” Jongin had to ask.

“I’m… no. Look, can we sit down?”

“Sit down, where?”

“Over there.” Kyungsoo pointed towards the tree.

The words, “Can we sit down.”

What did these mean now? Jongin tried to hash out every possible scenario and was halfway into an alternate universe where Kyungsoo was telling him all about how this charade of theirs needed to end, that Jongin can’t just silently stalk Kyungsoo and his husband-to-be on every private date and-

“Jongin, okay…”

Jongin sat, back to the tree stump and his knees pulled up against his chest. Kyungsoo was sitting likewise, still deliberating about something in his head.

“Okay… Look, I’m really bad at this but… I need to tell you something.” Kyungsoo’s words, not Jongin’s, as anyone might have expected.

“Okay?”

“I…” Kyungsoo bit his lower lip and fiddled with something in his back pocket. “I can’t… tell you… so… I’m going to text you, alright? Man, I wish I’d brought my laptop,” he mumbled a second later.

Kyungsoo unlocked his phone and angled the screen away from Jongin’s eyesight. Half a minute later, Jongin's phone buzzed inside his own back pocket and he quickly whipped it out, avoiding Kyungsoo’s shifty eyes.

Hi, said the text.

Jongin huffed out loud, smiling.

Hey, he texted back.

I want to write this story. An au I've been specifically thinking about for a while now. Can I tell it to you? 

Now? Jongin stared only at his screen. He was afraid to look, and anyways, Kyungsoo was already furiously typing up the next message.

I'm afraid I'll forget it if I don't write down the premise right now. Please? Be my beta? 

That phrase shouldn't have made Jongin's heart start to clatter. But it did.

Sure.

He waited. The little '...' on the lower part of his screen taunted him. He practiced deep, even breaths, hoping to survive whatever this au was about.

So, Lu Han and Minseok have been friends for ages, right? I know, it's cliche and I've probably written it before. But the last time I did this genre, it suddenly turned into this random murder mystery and Minseok disappeared and Lu Han became an assassin and well, you probably remember that. Anyway, it got too involved so this time I wanted something simpler.

Simpler... okay... Jongin tried not to cry. Xiuhan, at a time like this? Although he knew of course that if he mentioned that thought out loud he'd be deserving of a slap on the face at least. There's no time but Xiuhan time, that was Kyungsoo's oft-spoken motto.

So, they're friends. Only Minseok is worried that if he comes out and tells Lu Han he likes him, it'll ruin their friendship. And I know!! It's another cliche plotline, but just because it's cliche doesn't mean it's bad or that the world doesn't need more stories like it. It'll be good in the end, I promise! See, Minseok is pretty sure Lu Han likes him too. Like, it's been super obvious. Or, he assumes it is. And everybody knows... 

Jongin gulped, but he managed to get his fingers into texting position anyways. So what's the problem?

The problem is simple. He's pretty sure Lu Han likes him, or at least he's been sure for a good while now. But Lu Han never says anything. So Minseok can't help wondering, if there a reason for this? Is he just worrying about what'll change between them, or is it more complex than that? For example, is Lu Han thinking about what his family will say? He hasn't even properly come out. What if he's secretly freaking out? What if he likes Minseok, but not beyond a simple 'like' thing. What if he's not ready to commit because he's scared, meanwhile Minseok is going around writing stories about soulmates and also secretly freaking out because, it's entirely possible he's making this too complicated, but he's TOTALLY LOCKED INTO THINKING ABOUT WORST CASE SCENARIOS UNTIL HE'S NOT EVEN THINKING PROPERLY! sorry for the caps. I just.. like Xiuhan. And I mean, look it already happened to them, worse case scenario, and now they're separated by a sea and an enemy country and so what if they got to spend (probably) a week of Lu Han's vacation time together but-

So this fic idea... Jongin interrupts.

Right! The fic. Anyways. What do you think. It's lame right.

No it's not. How... how do you see it ending though?

See, that's where I'm stuck. I don't know about endings. Endings are the worst. They always . It's either, ta da! game over with kissing, or tragic oops- here comes the truck of doom

The truck of doom??? Seriously??

Okay, no truck of doom. But. Idk. help me?

Jongin sighed and exhaled one long time.

You could have Lu Han just go ahead and confess. Or...

Or?? 

Or Minseok can. It's... I mean one of those two options has to happen right?

There's always a third option. 

Neither confesses? 

Yeah. Neither confesses.

Don't like that. Someone has to say it. And... since your Lu Han sounds really dense, and this is your au, probably from what- Minseok's perspective? Then... why don't you confess. I mean make Minseok confess.

So you think Minseok should do it.

Yeah. He's braver, right? 

Probably.

Good. Then. See? it's not hard.

You're right.. Okay. Minseok will confess. End fic. Minseok likes Luhan. 

The end.

Beautiful right? 

Xiuhan is... beautiful. Yep.

And that's all.

That's all.

Jongin wanted to slam his phone into the grass. It was only an annoying ray of sun piercing through the tree branches that distracted him. He squinted his eyes and huffed out loud again. But in his hand, his phone buzzed one more time. 

What would you think of... being the Han to my Xiu? Please? I'll go first... 

1,790 words

Because Xiuhan helps the world go round. They're practically Cupid themselves. 

Love you guys. The epilogue will be out in a few days!