A week goes by and Minseok continues having dreams about the stranger every night. Different things happen but no matter what, Minseok always sees the man at some point in his dream. It’s driving Minseok mad that he has no idea who this man is, what his name is or what he does for a living and why he keeps appearing in his dreams.

One day, while his class is taking a test, he stares out the window and a thought pops into his mind. Something Chanyeol said about the first dream suddenly loops in his mind. When someone dreams of you it means they fell asleep thinking about you, huh, Minseok thinks. Could it be that this stranger has been thinking about Minseok as much as Minseok has been thinking about him? Is he really interested in Minseok?

Shaking his head, Minseok dismisses the thought. I must be going insane. I can’t possibly believe that stupid superstition may be true, he thinks. He has no time to think more on the issue even if he wanted to because suddenly a piece of paper hits him in the face. Minseok blinks and his eyes narrow as he looks at the back of the classroom. Two male students stare back at him, huge grins on their faces.

“Jongin, Sehun. Pay attention to your tests or I’m going to fail you automatically,” Minseok says authoritatively. The pair laughs and high-five.

“Sure thing Mini-Min,” Sehun calls out before picking up his pencil and looking down intently at his test.

“M-mini—“ Minseok stammers, his cheeks flushing as a wave of fury crashes over him. “Damn it, Chanyeol,” he mutters under his breath. Not wanting to disturb the rest of the class, although they’re already fully distracted and all chuckling quietly at learning their teacher’s nickname, Minseok lets Sehun off the hook for now.

“Work on your tests. No more talking,” Minseok snaps.

The class settles down and Minseok yearns for class to be over so he can find Baekhyun and Jongdae to figure out who let Sehun and Jongin know about his nickname. He sighs and looks down at the homework assignments he’s been trying to grade while the students took their test. A few moments later, someone walks up and places their test on the desk. Looking up, Minseok is not at all pleased to see Jongin smiling at him. There’s something hidden behind that smile and Minseok is afraid to find out what it is.

“Hey teach, I saw you staring out the window like a teenage girl with a crush,” Jongin whispers as he leans forward on the desk. “Who do you have the hots for?”

“What do you mean?” Minseok glares at the boy who is actually taller than him, which is why he’s glad he’s not standing right now.

“I bet it’s a guy. I had a good feeling you swung that way,” Jongin continues. “Is it your roommate? Or is it that hot teacher Mr. Kim? Or maybe someone else?”

Minseok stares in astonishment at the boy before him who’s grinning fiendishly. “It’s none of your business. Now if you’re done with your test please go back to your seat and wait till class is over,” he says steely, gritting his teeth.

Chuckling softly, Jongin turns on his heels and practically saunters back to his seat. After that, the rest of the class goes by quickly and Minseok is finally granted freedom. The first thing he does is find Baekhyun and Jongdae to find out the truth. Turns out the culprit was Jongdae. Not much of a surprise really.

Once school is over, Minseok leaves earlier than usual since it is indeed his birthday. He’s decided to stop by a bakery and pick up a red velvet cupcake for himself as a treat first. He chooses one a few blocks away from the school that he’s heard the students talking about, curious as to what all the buzz is about. Right when he enters, he understands.

The atmosphere is inviting with its lighting that makes it feel like the sun is shining inside the building. The aroma of bread and pastries floats through the air like a cloud and the display of baked goods is so carefully arranged it’s as if someone spent hours on it. There’s gentle piano music playing through the speakers that just relaxes Minseok completely.

To top it all off, the stranger in his dreams stands at the counter, cleaning the top of the glass display case.

“Welcome to Cloud 12, where our bread is as fluffy as a cloud,” the stranger says and despite the terribly cheesy line, he wears a genuine smile on his face. Minseok inwardly cringes at the line in all honesty but he’s so shocked to see the stranger there he doesn’t say anything.

“Oh? Hey, I remember you! You’re the guy from the bus,” the man chirps. “Don’t be shy, come here!”

Minseok then realizes he’s still standing at the door like an idiot so he quickly shuffles over to the counter. “U-uh, hi. I didn’t expect to see you here,” he stutters. Part of him wants to smack himself for sounding like a bumbling idiot.

“Same here. I felt bad last time for leaving so quickly but my date was already going so badly and leaving her to say hi to you probably ruined it all,” the stranger replies, still smiling. “Not like I was hoping it’d go anywhere really. Anyways, enough about that. After all this time, I realized I never told you my name.”

“Ah, right,” Minseok mutters and smiles timidly.

“My name is Luhan,” he says, holding out his hand.

Minseok is glad he finally can put a name to the face. He reaches out to shake Luhan’s hand, his smile growing a little. “It’s nice to meet you, my name is Minseok.”

“Minseok, huh? I like it,” Luhan replies. “So how can I help you today, Minseok?”

Luhan’s question makes Minseok remember why he’s there in the first place. “Oh, that’s right. Umm, I just wanted a red velvet cupcake.”

“Red velvet? Nice choice. Red velvet is my favorite.” Luhan smiles brightly as he moves to grab a box and retrieve the cupcake, bringing it back to the front counter. “I hope you don’t mind me asking but is it for your girlfriend?”

“G-girlfriend? No no, I don’t have a girlfriend. It’s for me, uh, it’s my birthday,” Minseok stammers. He wonders why he’s so ineloquent in front of this man, it drives him nuts.

He watches as Luhan’s eyes light up. “So it’s your birthday…alright, wait here! I’ll be right back.”

Before Minseok can get a word out, Luhan disappears into the kitchen. He takes this time to compose himself. Of all the places he could’ve met Luhan again, he never expected it to be this bakery he went to on a whim. He can’t say he isn’t happy though. It’s a nice birthday surprise.

“And here we go,” Luhan says as he reemerges from the kitchen with the same box in hand. He sets the box on the counter and rings up the cupcake. “That’ll be 5,000 won.”

Taking out his wallet, Minseok hands over the money and takes the box. “What did you do…?” he asks cautiously.

Luhan winks and smiles innocently. “It’s a secret. You can’t open that until you get home, alright?”

“Alright, if you say so,” responds Minseok and he can’t help but chuckle a little. It’s kind of cute. “Thank you.”

“No problem! Happy birthday, I hope it’s a great one.” With one more blindingly bright smile, Luhan waves happily.

Slowly turning around, Minseok nods again in thanks and smiles back. “Thank you, really. I hope you have a good day,” he calls back as he leaves the bakery.

As he walks down the street towards the bus stop, Minseok feels as if he’s floating on air. Who knew such a short, simple meeting would make him feel so delighted. He returns home with the cupcake, excited to not only eat it but to find out what Luhan has given him.

When he gets back to the apartment, he wastes no time in dropping his bag off in his room before heading into the kitchen to open the cupcake box. Minseok carefully pries off the tape from the box, opening it slowly. His breath hitches when he sees an intricate flower drawn with light blue frosting on the cupcake. But what shocks him the most is the phone number written on the inside of the box and a little message from Luhan that says, “Happy birthday!!! :) Call me sometime~ – Luhan”

A smile pulls at Minseok’s lips and he finds himself laughing a little. He’s never encountered someone as cute as Luhan and he is most definitely going to call him. At that moment, the thought of that dream superstition flashes in his mind again causing his cheeks to flush light pink. Maybe, just maybe, this superstition might be true.

“Whatcha got there?” Chanyeol’s deep voice suddenly asks, right next to Minseok’s ear. Minseok jumps in surprise and gasps, turning around to punch Chanyeol in the shoulder.

“What the ? How come you can’t be that quiet when you go to get your dumb midnight snack?” Minseok snaps, mostly because he’s afraid Chanyeol saw Luhan’s message.

“Hey, it’s not my fault. You were so caught up in whatever is in that box that you didn’t even hear me come in. I called your name twice,” Chanyeol says with a shrug. “What’s in that box anyways? Is it cake?”

As Chanyeol reaches for the box, Minseok tries to snatch it away first but he’s too slow. Chanyeol grabs the box first and holds it up in the air while Minseok struggles, in vain, to get the box back.

“Nice try, Mini-Min,” Chanyeol chuckles. Minseok watches in horror as Chanyeol opens the box, inevitably reading the message on it. “Oh my god. Some guy gave you his number. Oh man, it’s that guy in your dreams too, isn’t it?”

Minseok blushes, hating the rare times when Chanyeol isn’t slow. “N-no…” he mutters, reaching for the box again. “Just give it back!”

Yet Chanyeol holds it out of his reach again, grinning like he’s just won the lottery. “It is. It totally is. Oh man, I gotta call Jongdae and Baekhyun. This is great.”

Minseok curses his genes for making him so short as Chanyeol keeps the box away from him effortlessly while also calling up Baekhyun, telling him what happened.

“Park Chanyeol, give me that back or I swear I will destroy your WiiU!” Minseok shouts furiously. Instantly, Chanyeol s the box in front of Minseok.

“O-okay, I’m sorry. You can have it back. Please don’t break my WiiU,” mumbles Chanyeol apologetically.

“Thank you,” Minseok says as he takes the cupcake back. He watches Chanyeol walks sullenly into his room, feeling a bit guilty for yelling at him. But, the wasn’t giving back his cupcake so he deserved it. Moving over to the living room, Minseok takes a seat on the couch and takes the cupcake out of the box. He stares at the flower Luhan had drawn, finding it almost too beautiful to eat. A tiny smile appears on his face and he takes a small bite, savoring the taste.

He’s halfway done with the cupcake when Chanyeol reappears from his room with a box in his hand. Minseok watches him while he plops down beside him on the couch.

“Happy birthday, this is for you,” he says as he hands the box to Minseok. “I know you wanted new ones since Jongin and Sehun kinda ruined your old ones.”

Minseok holds the box, his eyebrows rising as he looks at it curiously. Slowly, he lifts the top off to reveal a brand new pair of brown dress shoes. “These look so nice, wow. Thanks, man.”

Smiling widely, Minseok reaches out to hug Chanyeol. When he lets go, he blinks in confusion when Chanyeol holds his hand out. “What…?”

“I’ll need 50 won for that,” Chanyeol states as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Wait, why would I give you 50 won for giving me my own birthday present?” asks a bewildered Minseok.

“Because haven’t you heard that if you give someone shoes as a present, they’ll leave you soon. So, you gotta have them pay you and that way it’ll be like you’re just selling the shoes.” Chanyeol gives Minseok a look that says, “I can’t believe you don’t know this”.

“Oh, right. Okay then. Here,” Minseok replies slowly as he hands over 50 won from his wallet. He should’ve known it was another superstition. Chanyeol accepts the money happily, grinning as he turns on the TV.

“Let’s play some Mario Kart. I promise I won’t totally destroy you since it’s your birthday.” Chanyeol nudges Minseok and holds out a controller. Not able to refuse, Minseok nods and chuckles as he grabs the controller.

The rest of the day is spent playing video games and watching TV, with Jongdae and Baekhyun joining as well to celebrate Minseok’s birthday. Of course, he can’t escape without at least minimal amounts of teasing from Jongdae and Baekhyun about the thing with Luhan, but he doesn’t mind. By the end of the day, Minseok has had a wonderful birthday and he’s glad he spent it with his friends.

That night, Minseok dreams of Luhan again but this time he’s actually able to have a conversation with him before he wakes up.

---

It’s Friday afternoon, the day after Minseok’s birthday, and he’s sitting in the staff room with a pile of homework assignments that need grading. Instead of grading them though, he’s staring at his phone contemplating whether he should call Luhan or not. He chews on his lower lip, staring at the phone number until Jongdae snatches the phone out of his hand.

“What’s this?” he asks with a smirk.

“Jongdae, stop. Give me my phone,” Minseok grunts as he tries to take his phone back.

“Ooh, this is that guy’s phone number isn’t it? Were you gonna call him?” Jongdae twists and turns just out of Minseok’s reach and soon enough the two of them are hopping around the staff room.

“I don’t know yet but don’t you dare do anything stupid.” Minseok frowns and stops chasing Jongdae, sighing loudly.

Slowly making his way back to Minseok, Jongdae holds out the phone. “I didn’t do anything stupid. I did something entirely brilliant and you’re gonna thank me for it,’ he says before dashing out of the room.

Minseok holds his phone and stares in awe after Jongdae, quickly collecting himself to yell, “Kim Jongdae, you !”

Feeling a rush of panic wash over him, Minseok looks through his phone to see what Jongdae could have possibly done. His answer lies in his text messages, with a message to Luhan saying he wants him to call him at four. Minseok glances at the clock and that’s approximately one minute away. He desperately tries to send a new message to say that it wasn’t him who sent the first message but suddenly his phone rings with a call from Luhan and he’s got no choice but to answer it.

“H-hello?” he stutters.

“Minseok? It’s me, Luhan. You told me to call you now?” asks Luhan on the other end.

“Umm…yeah. About that—“ Minseok starts to say but he’s cut off.

“Actually let me stop you right there. I was hoping to talk to you soon cause I wanted to ask you something,” Luhan says and he sounds nervous, something Minseok didn’t think was possible.

He waits and realizes that Luhan paused so Minseok could respond. “U-uh, sure. What is it?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to have a cup of coffee with me one day or something…” Minseok hears the hesitation in Luhan’s voice and it’s somewhat adorable how nervous he is. It makes Minseok feel a little less nervous knowing that Luhan is in the same state.

“I would love to!” he answers a little too loud. He cringers, hoping he doesn’t sound too eager.

“Really? Great! How about later today? At like 5:30 at the café next to my bakery.”

“Sure, that’s perfect. I-I’ll see you then,” Minseok can’t help the quivering in his voice cause he can’t contain his excitement.

“Awesome, see you later!” Luhan replies before hanging up.

Minseok puts his phone in his pocket, smiling widely. He glances around the room to make sure no one is in there, and luckily he is the only one there. With a slight skip in his step, Minseok heads back to his desk to finish grading the assignments.

He’s so charged with energy and engrossed in grading that he nearly forgets to check the time. When he does, it’s already 5:15. He jumps out of his seat, shoving everything into his bag before running out of the room, nearly crashing into another teacher coming in.

He sees Jongdae and Baekhyun on his way out but ignores them entirely, even when Baekhyun tries to say hi. Jongdae stops Baekhyun from chasing after Minseok, telling him what he’d done and the two snicker as they watch Minseok rushing out of the school.

Minseok barely has time to think about how Jongdae is going to bring this up to him for the rest of his life if this date with Luhan goes well. He’s way too worried about being late for it. After almost getting hit by two cars and narrowly dodging a dozen pedestrians though, Minseok does manage to make it on time.

He stands outside the café to catch his breath, looking at the glass to try and see his reflection so he can fix his outfit. He’s in the middle of fixing his hair when he notices someone staring at him from inside the café. It takes a few seconds before he recognizes that it’s Luhan and the amount of embarrassment that hits him could knock someone off their feet.

Heading inside, Minseok is glad the lighting is dim cause maybe Luhan won’t be able to see how incredibly red his cheeks are. As he steps up to the table Luhan is at, he smiles shyly and takes a seat across from him.

“Doing some last minute checkups?” Luhan teases while sliding a menu to Minseok. “Don’t worry, I was too.”

Minseok nods and laughs along, feeling the tenseness ease away now that he’s here with Luhan. “Y-yeah. I hope you weren’t waiting long…” he trails off even though he’s right on time.

“Not at all! I actually got here just a few moments before you,” replies Luhan with that incredibly bright smile of his. Minseok thinks the room looks brighter just cause of his smile.

Soon, they order their drinks and they start talking. To Minseok, nothing has ever been easier. He’s never had conversations that flowed so well with anyone before and he just loves the fact that Luhan claps his hands when he laughs and his eyes crinkle so much at the corners that he can barely see them. He also likes how Luhan is extremely interested in science, especially chemistry, and is flattered that Luhan finds it admirable how Minseok teaches chemistry and that he’s dreamt of being a teacher too. Minseok enjoys the way Luhan talks about baking and realizes that Luhan is definitely a hand-talker because whenever he explains something, his hands are always moving in some way. He doesn’t realize how much he notices every little thing that Luhan does until the end of the date when they say goodbye and plan to meet another day for another. He sees how delicate Luhan’s hands look and hears the gentle tone in his voice, but also notices how alert and lively his eyes are.

At the end of the day, Minseok can’t stop thinking about the date and how much he looks forward to the next and hopefully the next after that. He hopes they’ll never stop because he wants to learn more and more about this baker who dreams of teaching.

That night Minseok dreams of the date and it’s one of the best dreams he’s ever had.

---

Time seems to fly by after that and Minseok has never been happier. He sees Luhan almost every day, his students are actually working hard for once and Jongin and Sehun aren’t tormenting him as much, and he’s getting along quite well with his friends.

The first time Minseok introduces Luhan to his friends, they click immediately and Luhan fits in as if he’s always been a part of the group. Of course, one of the first questions they ask is if they’ve had already and if so, how many times and who tops. Minseok is outraged and extremely embarrassed because in all honesty they haven’t even kissed yet but he doesn’t want to tell his friends that so he keeps his mouth shut. Luhan just laughs it off and shakes his head, somehow able to turn the subject away to something else and Minseok is grateful and amazed at this ability.

One day in particular, Minseok is hung up over the fact that he and Luhan have never kissed even though they’ve been going out for nearly a month. It’s Luhan’s birthday, actually, and he’s decided today is the best day to try for a kiss. He feels like a teenager for getting so nervous and excited about a mere kiss, but he doesn’t care.

He doesn’t know why these thoughts cross his mind in the middle of class though and he’s afraid to stutter over his words while he tries teaching about covalent bonds. But, he thinks things are going well until he sees someone raise their hand in the back. To his horror, it’s Sehun.

“Yes, Sehun. Do you have a question?” he asks, hoping it’s not something inappropriate.

“Yeah, I was wondering why you wrote ‘Luhan’ instead of covalent on the board,” Sehun says. At first Minseok thinks he’s screwing with him cause of the devious smirk on his face but when he glances at the board, he’s horrified to see that it’s true.

“O-oh, my bad. Thank you for catching that,” he mutters, quickly moving to fix it.

“Looks like someone’s got on their mind,” Jongin whispers loudly to Sehun so that the entire class hears. The class collectively laughs and Minseok’s cheeks burn in embarrassment.

He looks out the door and sees Jongdae passing by, calling out to him. “Jongdae! Come here.”

The whole class turns quiet when Jongdae enters, wondering what is going on. “What?” Jongdae asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Please Sehun and Jongin to the principal for me. They’ve been making inappropriate comments during class,” Minseok says to which the two students instantly jump up to protest.

“I did not! It was Jongin!”

“Come on teach, don’t be like that!”

Minseok looks pointedly at Jongin and Sehun. “If you don’t want that, then I expect you both to stay quiet and keep your comments to yourselves for the rest of class.”

The pair nods and sits back down. Jongdae lets out a low whistle, patting Minseok’s shoulder. “Nicely done. See you later,” he says, grinning as he leaves the classroom.

The rest of the class goes by smoothly, much to Minseok’s pleasure. He goes through his day more cautiously, however, in hopes of not slipping up like before. But, he can’t help thinking about the date he has planned for Luhan’s birthday. It’s going to be amazing and he’s hoping Luhan loves it.

This is why he’s requested to leave early to prepare for it, having Baekhyun fill in for him. Minseok heads home quickly to grab everything he needs before heading to Luhan’s bakery. He’s glad they’re not open on Mondays because it’s perfect for his plan. Of course, to make sure Luhan doesn’t show up unknowingly, Minseok has employed Chanyeol to take Luhan out for the day and keep him busy until the designated time.

There’s about two hours left till Chanyeol is supposed to bring Luhan here, so Minseok wastes no time in setting things up. He drapes banners across the ceiling, moving some tables out of the way except for one in the middle.

He’s just completed the finishing touches when he hears the bell. Looking over at the door, Minseok smiles when he sees Luhan walk in. The joy he feels is overwhelming when he watches Luhan gasp and glance around the room at the decorations. A smile tugs the corners of his lips up and he’s across the room in a second to hug Minseok tightly.

“You did this just for me?” Luhan asks softly.

“Yeah. Happy birthday, Luhan,” Minseok replies while pressing a light kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you, I love it.” Luhan returns the kiss on the cheek before glancing at the table. “What’s this? Did you make this yourself?”

Minseok nods, opening the box he’s set there to reveal a small red velvet cake. He glances at Luhan, smiling timidly. “I wanted to do one of those pretty flowers with frosting like you do, but I wasn’t sure how…you think you could teach me?”

Luhan chuckles and grabs one of the tubes of frosting, placing it in Minseok’s hand while he stands behind him. “Of course.”

A part of Minseok cringes at how cliché this scene is right now but most of him doesn’t care because Luhan has his arms around him and his hand on his own, guiding it as he helps him with the frosting. This has to be the happiest moment of his life and he can’t imagine anything better until he turns his head to glance at Luhan, only to find out that Luhan already has his eyes on him. They both let go of the frosting as Minseok turns around to wrap his arms around Luhan, leaning in to press his lips against the other’s. And then he changes his mind; this moment is the happiest moment of his life.

The two get lost in the kiss, completely forgetting about everything else until they finally have to pull away for air. They press their foreheads together, shy smiles and laughs spilling from flushed lips. Their gazes are fixed on each other and they stand like that for a while, pressed together but not saying a word.

Finally, Luhan breaks the silence with his soft voice. “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, anything for the greatest person in the world,” Minseok responds, grinning happily.

“I love you,” Luhan murmurs as he smiles tenderly. Minseok’s breath catches because that’s the first time he’s ever said, “I love you” to him.

“I love you too,” he replies and it’s refreshing to say the words back to him.

The couple eventually let go of each other to continue Minseok’s birthday date. They have cake and sit on the counter, just talking about anything and everything. It’s all Minseok has ever dreamed of and more. The night is filled with laughter and smiles, happiness just radiating through the entire room.

Luhan glances at Minseok, chuckling a bit before saying, “I know this is kinda random but Chanyeol told me about that day you guys tried to find me.”

“What?” Minseok’s eyebrows furrow and he tilts his head. But then he remembers what Luhan is talking about and he blushes. “O-oh, that…”

“Don’t be shy, I think it’s cute,” Luhan muses, poking Minseok’s cheek gently. “To be honest, I actually hoped to see you on the bus again. I even tried getting up earlier in hopes of catching your bus.”

“Really?” Minseok’s surprised, but for some reason the superstition Chanyeol mentioned pops in his head. “So it’s true?”

Minseok doesn’t realize he’s just thought out loud until Luhan blinks and says, “what’s true?”

“H-huh? Oh. I was just thinking out loud,” Minseok stammers. “I-I mean it’s embarrassing but I had dreams about you before. And well, Chanyeol said that there’s a superstition that if you dream about someone it means they were thinking about you before they fell asleep…”

There’s a short pause before Luhan’s laughter fills the room. Minseok’s cheeks are burning from embarrassment and he just wants to sink into a hole in the ground. “Really now? And you started to believe it, right?”

“M-maybe, I mean. It just happened a lot,” Minseok says. He bites his bottom lip and looks down at the floor.

“I guess I did think about you quite a bit.” Luhan nods thoughtfully, smiling as he gently tilts Minseok’s chin up to look him in the eye. “But wow, the Kim Minseok believed that a superstition might be true. That’s amazing.”

“I don’t—“ Minseok stutters.

“But hey, did you know that scientists say that’s not true. In reality, when you dream of someone it’s cause you have been thinking about them cause dreams are based off of your mind,” Luhan adds, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “So it looks like, you, Kim Minseok was the one thinking about me a lot.”

The embarrassment is too much for Minseok to handle and he hops off the counter, trying to run and hide. Luhan’s already on his tail however and the pair end up running around the bakery while Luhan continues teasing Minseok and Minseok is desperately trying to escape.

All Minseok can think of is that this is the last time he ever believes in any superstition and he swears to never believe another one no matter how true it may seem.

-----

A/N: And that's the end! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! ^^