There are several things that bother Minseok; like the way his roommate, Chanyeol, lumbers around their apartment like an enraged bear in the middle of the night for his routine midnight snack. He thinks he’s being quiet as a mouse, but he is far from it. Or there is also his coworkers’, Baekhyun and Jongdae’s, incessant bickering in the staff room at the high school Minseok works at as a chemistry teacher. And there is no way to leave out the unnecessary comments and chatter from two of his worst students in the back of the classroom. It’s no secret that Jongin and Sehun are obsessed with messing with poor Minseok during and even after class.

However, these things are merely little annoyances in Minseok’s life that he has grown used to and maybe even became slightly fond of them. Without them in his life, he assumes that things would be much more bland. On the other hand, there are few things that Minseok truly dislikes or hates if he wants to use that strong of a word.

One of those would be superstition. He sees no truth behind any of them. Some were so out there that he wondered if the people who came up with these had been drunk when they were. Leaving an electric fan on a night while you sleep could kill you? Minseok scoffs and chuckles at this one the most and yet on a particularly hot summer night he left his fan on when he went to bed, only to be woken in the dead of night by a panicked Chanyeol who was desperately fumbling to unplug it all whilst mumbling “don’t kill him, don’t kill Minseok” repeatedly. Minseok was furious of course but he was too tired to yell at Chanyeol at the time so he left him be until the next morning.

Even western superstition seems ridiculous to Minseok, in fact he thinks it’s more absurd than Korean superstitions. Spilling salt will cause bad luck? Walking under ladders too? And even black cats? Too many things will cause bad luck, apparently, and Minseok finds it absolutely ridiculous. He’s gotten into many pointless arguments with Chanyeol, who has quite the opposite look on superstition, and in the end they merely just drop the subject completely.

Minseok thinks about this as he pushes the ‘F’¹ button on the elevator in his apartment building. His morning started off rough already, with Chanyeol spilling cereal all over his shirt, which in turn led him to be late to catch his bus. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he realized halfway during his frantic sprint to try and catch the bus that he completely forgot to grab his teaching plans for the day. Thus, here he is heading back to the apartment approximately two blocks away from the bus stop.

When he opens the door, Chanyeol is already gone and so is the mess of cereal. Minseok is surprised that Chanyeol actually took the time to clean up in all honesty. He usually was the one cleaning up the messes. Brushing the thought from his mind, he rushes into his room to grab the folder off his desk and quickly tries to cram it into his bag. Afterwards, he leaves the apartment while glancing at his watch, hoping to catch the next bus.

As he approaches the bus stop once again, he sees it pulling up and he lets out a sigh of relief. Maybe things will start getting better now, despite the fact that he’ll show up about fifteen minutes late to his first class. Which reminds him that he should call Jongdae and ask if he can watch over his class before he gets there.

The bus pulls up and Minseok is busy dialing Jongdae on his phone with one hand while also scrambling to get out his bus pass from his pocket with the other hand. After successfully juggling both tasks, he scans his card and looks up only to be greeted with the sight of a bus crammed with people. The bus driver gives him a grunt that probably means he should move out of the way so the driver can get going, so Minseok quickly shuffles forward into the mass of people in hopes of finding a place to stand. He manages to do so when a man about his height scoots over slightly to give him a space and he thanks the man with one of those quick, courteous smiles that everyone gives to strangers. The voice that says “you’re welcome” back is soft and melodic and Minseok finds it dancing in his ears but he’s too distracted to get a better look at the stranger’s face when Jongdae finally answers the phone.

“What’s up, Shorty?” Minseok hears Jongdae say and he inevitably hears both Jongdae and Baekhyun snicker together.

“Jongdae, we are literally the same height. You calling me Shorty is basically like you calling yourself Shorty,” Minseok replies exasperatedly while rolling his eyes even though he knows Jongdae can’t see. A grin tugs at the corners of his lips when he hears Baekhyun burst out laughing and he knows he’s on speakerphone now. “And you too, Baekhyun. You’re the same height as both of us.”

Minseok hears Baekhyun shout something back about being 174cm while he and Jongdae are 173 but he chooses to ignore it and speaks directly to Jongdae.

“Anyways, Jongdae I need you to do me a favor,” he practically sighs into the phone out of exhaustion.

“What is it? Do you want me to go on a blind date for you again? You know, you should just tell your mom that you don’t swing that way, then she’ll stop,” Jongdae responds and Minseok can practically hear the smug look on Jongdae’s face.

“No, that’s not it. And shut up, I never said I was gay so stop assuming it and if I was you know I would cease to exist to my mom,” Minseok whispers angrily into his phone before continuing, “I need you to go keep an eye on my class for me for a little bit. I’m running late and I don’t want the students to get too out of hand.”

“And by ‘students’ I’m guessing you mean Jongin and Sehun, right?”

Minseok bites his lower lip before mumbling, “yeah.”

“I thought so. I’ll do it but only cause you’ll owe me big time if something happens. Also, it’s okay if you’re gay Minseok, I still love you,” Jongdae says with exaggerated sympathy and before Minseok can even reply, he hangs up.

He hopes that Jongdae actually will keep an eye on them instead of joining in on their antics like the last time Minseok asked him to do this. He shudders at the thought of it, not wanting to bring up the memory. Turning his thoughts elsewhere, he glances out the window to watch nothing in particular really. It hasn’t even been four hours since he’s been awake but he feels exhausted already. Five minutes pass with Minseok merely staring blankly out the window until he’s jolted back to reality.

“You look tired,” the sudden voice that brought him out of his trance says. It takes Minseok a few seconds before he realizes that it’s the stranger from earlier and he finally turns to get a good look at him. What he sees are beautiful, delicate features framed on a petite face. The stranger also has light brown hair that looks so fluffy that Minseok wishes he could touch it. To top it all of, the gentle, polite smile that graces the man’s lips leaves Minseok wondering how much more handsome this guy could get if he smiled fully.

After what felt like ages to Minseok but in reality was only a second, Minseok finally gets his act together to let out a quiet chuckle. “Tired is an understatement,” he says.

“Been having a long week?” the stranger asks and his eyebrows furrow slightly in concern. Minseok finds it kinda cute.

“Not really, more like just a really bad morning,” Minseok replies, giving the stranger a small smile. “It’s alright though, I’ll survive.”

The man nods once and his smile grows ever so slightly. “Well I hope your day gets better. You deserve it.”

“Ah, really? I-I don’t think so, but thank you,” Minseok fumbles in response, flustered by the comment.

“You’re welcome, I’m—“ the stranger starts to say but the bus stops and people are spilling out of the bus, causing Minseok to realize that they have arrived at the stop he needs to get off on.

In his haste and panic, Minseok quickly mutters, “Sorry, I gotta go it was nice meeting you!” And then he scampers off the bus without glancing back.

He practically sprints the one block to get to school, arriving in front of the door to the classroom out of breath with his locks of hair falling into his face. Before entering the classroom, he fixes his clothes and hair and takes a deep breath, sliding the door open and stepping inside. Already the stranger has left his mind and he’s focused only on preparing himself for whatever disaster could greet him past the door.

To his surprise, he finds all the students sitting at their desks with their full attention at the front of the classroom where Jongdae stands, holding a piece of chalk. The picture is perfect until Minseok takes another step forward to actually see what’s on the board, finding a game of hangman where he could clearly see that the phrase was meant to be “Minseok is an uptight ”.

“Oh look, Minseok’s here! Well, it was fun hanging out with you guys, see ya!” Jongdae says quickly with a grin, all while running out the door. “Bye Minseok!” he mumbles on his way out.

“I heard you were late today,” Baekhyun says with a grin. “What happened? Too hungover after a night out?”

“Please. The only thing he could be hungover from is grading too many papers,” Jongdae pipes up and the two laugh and high-five like they made the joke of the century.

Minseok lets out a long sigh, shaking his head as he takes a seat. He wonders how he became friends with these two and also kinda regrets whatever compelled him to accept their friendship. “That’s not it. It’s all Chanyeol’s fault.”

At the mention of Chanyeol’s name, Minseok sees Baekhyun noticeably perk up and he chuckles inwardly. He doesn’t say anymore, however, and just opens up the brown paper bag he packed his lunch in and takes out the container of leftover “spaghetti” that Chanyeol made from last night. It’s barely edible because Chanyeol somehow managed to burn the spaghetti sauce but Minseok was too lazy to make his own lunch this morning and would rather not spend money to buy food so he settled for it.

Glancing up at Baekhyun, an idea pops into Minseok’s head though. He puts on a happy expression, casually twirling spaghetti around his plastic fork. “Hmm, Chanyeol made this spaghetti last night and it’s really good,” he drawls, eyes scanning Baekhyun’s face for any sort of reaction. Of course, there is a reaction and Baekhyun rests his elbows on the table to lean across towards Minseok.

“R-really? Chanyeol cooked for you?” asks Baekhyun and Minseok can see he is doing his best to seem slightly disinterested but mildly curious at the same time. Minseok bites his bottom lip to stop himself from laughing.

“Well, not really. But he spent a lot of time making dinner for us and it turned out pretty great,” Minseok responds. He catches Jongdae’s eye and sees the other visibly holding in his laughter cause he knows just how “great” Chanyeol’s cooking skills are. But Baekhyun doesn’t and that’s all that matters.

Baekhyun sits back a little and does his best to look as if he doesn’t care as he says, “I bought this kimbap from that one stand you really like…I’d be willing to make a trade for that spaghetti.”

“Ah man, I don’t know…” Minseok shrugs, egging Baekhyun on more. “This spaghetti is damn good.”

“I’ll also give you some of my kimchi!” Baekhyun finally loses it a little, shoving his container of kimbap and kimchi into the middle of the table.

“Alright, deal,” replies Minseok with a smirk as he grabs the kimbap and passes the spaghetti over to Baekhyun. He starts eating before Baekhyun can realize the grave mistake he’s made, slyly high-fiving Jongdae under the table.

When Baekhyun does realize that he’s been tricked, he demands to know if Chanyeol really made it or if Minseok was lying just so he would trade with him. Minseok reassures him that Chanyeol did indeed make that abomination and before Baekhyun can snatch his lunch back, Minseok picks it up and dashes out of the room to finish his lunch in his next classroom.

The rest of the day continues going quite smoothly despite the rough morning Minseok has had and he’s very pleased with it. After school has ended and Minseok finishes whatever work needed to be done, he packs up his things and heads out of the staff room. Jongdae and Baekhyun left earlier, saying they were gonna get ready to go out to a club later that night. They asked Minseok to go with them, bringing up that it was Friday and they could do whatever they wanted that night but he refused by saying he had a lot of work to do. In reality, he has a blind date that his mother set him up with.

Minseok’s mother is obsessed with the idea of him getting married and having children. She always tells him that he’s twenty-six and he should start thinking about getting married, setting him up on blind dates in the hopes that he’ll meet that special someone. Minseok, on the other hand, has no interest in getting married just yet. And he’s not even certain he wants kids but if he tells his mom that, he’s certain she would have a heart attack.

But, since he doesn’t particularly want to disappoint his mother, Minseok entertains the dates she sets up for him. When he rejects a second date, his mother always asks him why to which he usually replies with “she’s not the one” or “I just didn’t feel any connection”. After the first ten dates, Minseok thought his mom would finally give up but she’s just as persistent as he is and seems to know an endless supply of girls his age to send him on dates with.

Todays date is with a twenty-five year old elementary school teacher who “adores children and loves jogging and biking, so you’ll get along just fine” Minseok reads the text his mother sent him earlier. Minseok doesn’t understand any part of that description that would make them get along since he hates jogging and he hasn’t ridden a bike since he was ten. But his mom doesn’t know that since the only topics she ever discusses with him are marriage and kids.

Minseok decides that wasting his energy questioning his mother’s wishes is pointless so he heads back to the apartment before the date to change. When he gets there, Chanyeol is back from work and is playing Mario Kart. The much taller man turns his head when he hears Minseok come in and grins, waving at him.

"Hey, Minseok! Wanna play?” he says while offering the other control. It seems as if Chanyeol completely forgot about this morning’s incident, which Minseok isn’t surprised about at all.

Not wanting to bring it up, Minseok merely shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively as he walks into his room. “Nah, I’m good,” he calls back.

“Alright, suit yourself!” Minseok hears Chanyeol shout before he closes the door to his room. Walking over to the dresser, he begins to rifle through the drawers in order to piece together an acceptable outfit for the date. He’s aiming for something along the lines of a “I’m here cause I have to be not cause I wanna be but no offense to you I bet you’re awesome” look. He usually accomplishes this with a nice pair of jeans and a clean polo shirt. To top off the look, he shakes his head around to style his hair in a sort of “I don’t really care” way. With that done, he slips on a light jacket cause it’s that odd transition between winter and spring where it’s not quite cold enough for a heavy jacket but not warm enough for just a hoodie.

When he leaves his room, Chanyeol lets out a whistle and Minseok glances at him to see his roommate raising an eyebrow. “Looks like someone’s got a hot date,” Chanyeol croons whilst grinning.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll see you later,” mutters Minseok with a shake of his head. Chanyeol already knows that it’s a blind date that won’t go anywhere but he always has the same reaction when Minseok is about to leave, and quite honestly Minseok is sick of it. But for reasons he couldn’t possibly understand, Chanyeol never grows tired of it. He ignores Chanyeol’s calls to “get some” and exits the apartment as quickly as he can.

Checking the watch on his wrist, Minseok sees that it’s almost six so he should probably pick up the pace a little if he wants to make it to the restaurant they’re supposed to meet on time. He decides to walk there rather than take the bus cause he knows a few shortcuts, which is good since he ends up getting to the restaurant at approximately 6:28, exactly two minutes before the date.

Minseok heads inside and asks for his table, following a very tired looking waitress leading him towards the back of the restaurant. As Minseok walks, he scans the room and notices that it’s quite packed and a little extravagant compared to his chosen attire so he feels a bit self-conscious. He also takes in the variety of delicious aromas wafting through the room and he realizes then that he’s starving and he hasn’t eaten since eleven. When he takes his seat, a part of him hopes his date will arrive soon so they can order their food quicker.

His wish is granted when a few moments later he sees the waitress leading a pretty woman with long, curly dark brown hair to his table. He stands up and bows slightly, offering a small smile.

“Hello, I’m Minseok. You must be Miss Shinhye, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Minseok says. The woman nods in return and flashes him a polite smile of her own.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too. I’ve heard much about you from your mother,” she responds as she takes a seat across from him.

The start of the date goes on the same way most first dates do after the introductions. They engage in small talk and talk about the menu, a few jokes are cracked to break the ice and it turns from awkward to slightly less awkward. Halfway through their meal, the pair pauses when a shadow falls on their table. Glancing up, they are quite puzzled to see a young man smiling widely at them, or more specifically, at Minseok.

“Sorry to interrupt but I couldn’t help myself,” the man starts off and Minseok wants to thank him cause quite frankly he’s beginning to get extremely sleepy and all he wants is for this date to end so he can go home. “We met earlier today, didn’t we?” continues the man.

“U-umm, I’m sorry but I don’t remember meeting you,” Shinhye stammers. Meanwhile, Minseok is busy looking at this stranger’s face, feeling something familiar about his nice eyes that practically sparkle in the light.

“Ah, my bad. I was actually referring to him.” The man gestures towards Minseok while offering a courteous smile towards Shinhye. Minseok blinks in surprise because it finally hits him as to why this man looks so damn familiar to him.

“Oh! That’s right! We met on the bus,” Minseok exclaims a little too loudly at first but he lowers his voice fast. The stranger nods and the smile on his face somehow grows bigger.

 “Yeah. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon. I was surprised so I couldn’t help coming over to say hello and ask if the rest of your day went better than your morning did.”

He doesn’t know why, but Minseok feels a genuine smile tugging at his lips. “That’s really thoughtful of you. My day actually did get a lot better than this morning,” he replies.

The stranger claps his hands together and a delightful look appears on his face. “Really? I’m so glad to hear that! Oh, but I don’t wanna take up too much of you and your girlfriend’s time. I’ve also gotta head back to a date so I’ll go now. It was nice seeing you again, maybe I’ll see you again soon!” he chirps happily before turning and heading to a table where a woman with short blonde hair sits. Minseok can only manage a quick goodbye, not even able to clarify that Shinhye is, in fact, not his girlfriend.

Minseok is just realizing that he still doesn’t know the stranger’s name when his date stands up suddenly and declares that their date is over. He hears her mention something about him showing more emotion to that stranger than he ever did in front of her before storming out of the restaurant alone. Minseok doesn’t really understand what she meant but hey, he’s not about to complain that the date is over faster.

After leaving money on the table for the check, he glances around quickly in hopes of catching the stranger again. Unfortunately, the stranger and his date or girlfriend, Minseok’s not really sure, are gone already. Feeling slightly disappointed, Minseok leaves the restaurant and heads back home. Chanyeol is just about to leave when he arrives and he declines all of Chanyeol’s offers to go clubbing with him, Jongdae, and Baekhyun. All he really wants at the moment is to collapse onto his bed and sink into blissful sleep. And he does exactly that.

----

There’s two things throwing Minseok off right now and the first is the fact that he’s riding a bike through the park he likes to visit on weekends during the spring and summer. The second is the fact that he’s following a young man on another bike and all he can see is the back of his head but he’s almost certain it’s the same man he met on the bus. He doesn’t know what’s compelling him to keep going, whether it’s the fact that he wants to catch up to this man and finally learn his name or if it’s the fact that the ground behind him keeps falling away and he would rather not fall into what seems to be a never-ending abyss.

Minseok pedals for his life but for some reason whenever he gets close to catching up to the stranger, the stranger speeds up and it turns into a desperate goose chase. Just as Minseok starts losing energy and slowing down, the stranger stops and turns around to flash the brightest smile Minseok’s ever seen. But it all disappears in a second when the earth gives beneath Minseok’s feet and he falls.

Minseok awakes with a start; his body tangled in his blanket and he notices he somehow ended up on the floor at some point. With a groan, he untangles himself and stands up, rubbing his lower back. Yeah, there’s definitely a bruise there, he thinks and sighs. The pain in his back subsides, as his thoughts are taken over by something else. He can’t help but wonder why that stranger appeared in his dreams or what that dream could have possibly meant. Not that he believed that dreams have some deeper meaning to them in the first place though.

He’s just about to grab his towel so he can go take a shower when the door slams open and Chanyeol walks in with a cake in hand singing Happy Birthday. His roommate has the largest grin he’s ever seen on someone’s face and he lets out a heavy sigh.

 “Chanyeol, what are you doing?” he asks exasperatedly.

“Singing happy birthday to the birthday guy! What else would I be doing? Singing happy birthday to myself?” Chanyeol snorts and shakes his head. “That’d be ridiculous. My birthday isn’t until November.”

“Yeah, well my birthday isn’t until next week,” states Minseok while he rubs his temples. Sometimes he questions his choice of roommate but Chanyeol has been his friend since his freshmen year of college so there really was no other choice.

Chanyeol looks like he’s been told that his mother died and he slowly sets the cake down on Minseok’s desk. “W-wait, what? Really? I could’ve sworn it was today…” he mumbles as he reaches into his pocket to pull out a small planner. “See? Right here, March 20^th.”

“It’s March 26^th,” Minseok says. “My birthday is March 26^th.” He can’t believe he’s having this conversation right now and he places his head in his hands, too overwhelmed.

 “Oh…well that’s okay. We can celebrate early! And then on your actual birthday, I’ll give you your present.” Chanyeol has the goofiest grin on and Minseok doesn’t have the heart or energy to say no so he nods, eliciting an ecstatic whoop from Chanyeol. “Yes! Awesome, now make a wish and blow out the candles!”

With a shake of his head and an amused smile, Minseok steps over to Chanyeol and the cake, making a wish in his head before blowing the candles out. Chanyeol immediately asks what he wished for so Minseok responds with the normal answer of “if I tell you it won’t come true”, which Chanyeol always believes and stops bothering him.

“Thanks,” Minseok says quietly, in hopes that Chanyeol won’t hear but of course he does hear and he doesn’t hesitate in crushing Minseok in a huge hug.

“Aww, no problem for my best friend,” Chanyeol practically sings. “And you’re gonna love your present next week.”

“Yeah, okay now please let me go,” Minseok mutters. Chanyeol’s only response is to laugh and hug him even tighter. Groaning in frustration, Minseok finally grumbles, “Please let me go or else I won’t let you interpret my dream.”

Immediately, Chanyeol releases him from his death grip and Minseok takes a deep breath. “Dream? You had an interesting dream you want me to interpret?” Chanyeol says and his excitement shines in his eyes. He’s always had a certain interest in dreams and interpreting what special meaning they held. Minseok entertains that interest by telling Chanyeol any odd dreams he has and it became a ritual for them since their college days. Of course Minseok doesn’t particularly put much belief into Chanyeol’s interpretations but he does enjoy hearing them. They can be quite unique.

After Minseok ushers Chanyeol out of his room so he can make his bed and go take a shower, the two of them end up sitting in the living room on the couch with Chanyeol wearing his “professional” glasses. They’re really just a pair of 3D glasses with the lenses taken out. Minseok sips from a glass of water while Chanyeol pulls out his “dream book”. It contains every dream that Minseok has ever told him about and at first Minseok protested but Chanyeol somehow convinced him to keep it. Now, Chanyeol uses it to look back on Minseok’s dreams, thinking that they may be connected somehow.

“Alright so what happened in your dream? Start off from the earliest part you can remember,” Chanyeol begins and he tries his best to look as sophisticated as possible.

Minseok snorts but he starts telling Chanyeol exactly what he could remember. He also mentions what happened yesterday morning with the light brown haired stranger. As he talks, he watches how Chanyeol thoughtfully taps his pen against the notebook, lips pursed in concentration. He might find it a little ridiculous but he can’t deny that Chanyeol’s passion for this is endearing in a way.

“I see, I see. That’s very interesting,” Chanyeol muses, nodding all the while. “I think that maybe this stranger has been thinking about you a lot.”

“What?” Minseok sputters in surprise. “W-what do you mean?”

“I mean that haven’t you ever heard of the saying that when you dream of someone it means they fell asleep thinking about you?” Chanyeol chuckles and pats Minseok’s head as if he is some naïve child. “I’d say you got an admirer now.”

Minseok frowns and swats Chanyeol’s hand away. “That can’t possibly be true. We barely know each other. He doesn’t even know my name! And besides, that’s probably some dumb superstition.”

“Don’t take superstition lightly, how many times do I have to tell you that?” Chanyeol basically growls. Minseok’s too tired and thrown off to answer back so he just shakes his head.

 “Alright sure, whatever.” Minseok doesn’t know why but he feels like he wants to believe in Chanyeol’s crazy theory. The rational part in him says otherwise though. “Anyways, why would he even like me? He thinks I have a girlfriend.”

At this, Chanyeol thinks for a moment before responding, “Hey, some people like what they can’t have. I don’t know, man. Either way, I definitely think you should try to find this guy again. Who knows, maybe you two are compatible.”

Chanyeol nudges Minseok’s shoulder and grins, making Minseok roll his eyes. “Yeah, some stranger I met on the bus just happens to be my soulmate. How cliché.”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. But wouldn’t it be romantic too though?”

“No, Chanyeol. I don’t think it would.”

“Aw, c’mon Mini-Min. Don’t be a stick in the mud,” Chanyeol laughs and takes the 3D glasses off, turning back into the normal goofball he is.

“I thought I told you never to call me Mini-Min again,” Minseok says bitterly. The nickname was from their college days and Minseok has hated it ever since.

“It’s cute though! My Minseok might finally find love.” The way Chanyeol’s eyes seem to twinkle and the way he clasps his hands together has Minseok ready to gag.

Getting up from the couch, Minseok heads towards his room. “Okay sure. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to grade some quizzes,” he mutters before escaping into his bedroom.

Not even two hours pass when Minseok hears a knock on his door. Before he can say a word, Chanyeol comes in followed by Jongdae and Baekhyun. All Minseok can do is let out a long sigh.

“What do you wan-“ Minseok starts to say but he can’t even finish his question as he’s swept off his chair and dragged out of the room. “Hey, wait, what are you guys doing?”

His protests are ignored as his three friends work together to slip Minseok’s shoes and jacket on before lugging him out of the apartment. The three of them carry Minseok like a sack of potatoes while he weakly attempts to break free. He knows that it’s no use of course and eventually gives up, letting them take him where they please.

“Alright, alright. I’ll go with you guys, okay? Now let me walk and tell me where we’re going first,” Minseok relents and the three glance at each other before nodding and releasing Minseok.

Jongdae speaks up first, draping his arm around Minseok’s shoulders. “Listen, Chanyeol told us about your dream and that guy so like the amazing friends we are, we decided to help you find this guy.”

“Yeah, I’m tired of being your decoy for blind dates. It’s time you get into a steady relationship so you can tell your mom to get off your back,” Baekhyun adds. Minseok notices he’s walking closer to Chanyeol than necessary.

Minseok wants to say that if he tells his mom he’s dating a man, than she’ll get off his back for the rest of his life but he decides to go along with his friends’ antics. “Okay, but how exactly are we going to find one man in Seoul? The first two times we met were rare coincidences,” he states.

“That’s the special thing about it! Because they’re rare coincidences, that makes your guys’ relationship that much more special,” Chanyeol exclaims, unable to contain his excitement.

There’s no response Minseok can come up with for that without sounding extremely sarcastic or just plain negative so he keeps his mouth shut. And so, he spends his Saturday afternoon searching the city of Seoul for one man he met on a bus. It’s safe to say that their efforts were fruitless. The four of them got on random buses and rode around the city, hoping that the stranger would turn up. Then they went to the restaurant from last night to ask if any of the workers knew him, but of course none of them did.

Now, it’s almost eleven at night and the four are sitting in a tent restaurant drinking soju and eating ddukbokki. Chanyeol’s already drunk and mumbling about how angry he is that they couldn’t find “Minseok’s soulmate” as he likes to call it. He’s progressively getting louder and angrier, making Minseok worried that he might start a fight with a stranger. It’s happened before and it’s gotten them all into quite a bit of trouble.

“I-I can’t believe…soulmate never appeared,” mutters Chanyeol as he slouches against a pleased Baekhyun. “If we find this g-guy…I’ll punch him.”

Minseok ducks as Chanyeol actually jabs at the air, narrowly missing his head. “Okay, I think you should stop drinking and we should go home.”

In reply, Chanyeol mumbles something about Minseok not being the boss of him before passing out on Baekhyun. Jongdae laughs because Baekhyun is much smaller than Chanyeol and his attempts at holding up Chanyeol are amusing to watch. Minseok sighs and heads over to pay the woman running the restaurant. When he returns, Baekhyun is desperately trying to carry Chanyeol while Jongdae watches on with a smirk on his face.

“Jongdae, you . Stop grinning and come help me,” Baekhyun snaps, his face turning red from the effort of holding Chanyeol. “I swear to god if I wasn’t holding Chanyeol, I’d punch you in the face.”

“Sorry, he’s not my crush so he’s not my problem,” Jongdae quips. “And besides, you get Chanyeol draped all over you. Isn’t that your dream?”

“Shut up, damn it!” Baekhyun groans. “Minseok, please help me.”

Minseok shakes his head, hiding his grin as he moves to help Baekhyun. Jongdae blatantly snickers and walks alongside the three carefree. They get a cab and manage to lug Chanyeol inside it. Minseok gets in and the four part ways there, Jongdae and Baekhyun heading back to their own apartment.

It takes Minseok nearly ten minutes to get Chanyeol from the cab up to their apartment. Once he dumps Chanyeol onto his bed, he goes into his own room and collapses on his bed. He has no energy whatsoever, not even enough to change into pajamas. So, he ends up falling asleep right away.