(( Hello~This chapter was so much fun to write, and was actually one of the first few plot bunnies for this story :3 The first one I was able to come up with anyway, Angel had a ton of ideas. Also, Haven't Met You Yet will forever murder my soul, not just as a XiuTao song ))

Chapter Thirty Five
It's Bitter, this Love that Only I Drink
But I Promise You Kid,
I'll Give so Much More than I Get

“So who are you setting me up with again?” ZiTao asked, straightening his clothing and running a hand through his hair to halfheartedly fix it.

“You know what, I’m not going to tell you, because I doubt that you’ll remember long enough to meet him,” Sehun said, leaning against the door frame of ZiTao and Yifan’s room. The eldest in the dorm frowned from where he was in the kitchen, making his way over to stand beside Sehun.

“What’s going on?” He asked, looking from one blond to the other and ZiTao fought to keep his attention on his own reflection.

“Sehun’s set me up on a blind date,” He said as nonchalantly as he could, turning away from the two and grabbing his mobile and wallet.

“It’s technically not a blind date if you’ve met the person before.”

“Details, it’s not like I remember meeting this Min-whatever his name is.”

“Minseok-Hyung,” Sehun said, resisting a sigh. He was regretting this whole thing already and they hadn’t even left the dorm yet. The things he did for LuHan, even if they were completely hopeless.

“Wait, Kim Minseok?” Yifan asked, looking to Sehun.

“Are you telling me that you know him and ZiTao doesn’t?” Sehun answered with his own question, and Yifan shifted a little.

“Yeah, he’s in my communications class. We don’t really see eye to eye all that much, and for a while Junmyeon was the mediator between the two of us until I…” he trailed off, eyes flickering over to ZiTao before back to Sehun. “… Until I started showing an interest in his platonic soul mate,” he finished, noticing the surprise that played across Sehun’s face.

“That makes things make sense,” he said and Yifan frowned.

“It makes what make sense?” He asked, but Sehun didn’t seem like he planned to reply; and even if he did ZiTao was walking past them out of the room and towards the front door.

“Let’s get this over with,” he called over his shoulder and Sehun pushed himself off the doorframe, following after.

“Don’t wait up, and try not to pace a hole in the floor~” Sehun grinned at Yifan before closing and locking the dorm door. ZiTao slowed when they passed the restaurant that they usually went to, frowning a little when Sehun kept walking, and he caught up quickly.

“Where are we going?” ZiTao asked ten minutes later when they entered the higher end part of the town that Yifan would take him to on occasions, looking over at Sehun who had his focus on his mobile.

“Pierre Gagnaire.” ZiTao’s jaw dropped.

“Okay, don’t joke like that,” he demanded and Sehun looked over at him.

“I’m not joking,” the blond replied and ZiTao stared at him for a long moment as a silence fell between them.

“Even Ge doesn’t take me there. When you said old man, I didn’t expect some rich old guy trying to be my sugar daddy,” ZiTao said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not interested in that,” He added, Sehun rolling his eyes and fighting the urge to call LuHan and call the date off.

“Would you at least meet him? He’s in the same school year as Yifan-Hyung, he’s not that old. He’s just older than Yifan-Hyung and LuHan-Hyung,” Sehun replied, opening the door to the Lotte Hotel and following LuHan’s directions up to the top floor. He told a server who they were here to dine with and she offered a smile before leading them through the restaurant.

“For someone who kept on acting like you didn’t have a crush on this guy, you’re surprisingly worried about how your hair looks,” LuHan pointed out with a grin as Minseok was messing with his hair again in the reflection on his phone.

“I would say the same about you, but you were constantly denying that you had feelings for Sehun, which made your feelings all the more obvious,” Minseok replied and LuHan laughed.

“Hey, I’m not the one who made care packages to try and swoon someone who ignored my existence. At least Sehun looked at me for a long while before we started…” He trailed off, Minseok cocking an eyebrow and looking over at him.

“Dating?”

“Yeah… that word,” LuHan said slowly before both of them looked over at the main entrance of the restaurant floor. Minseok stood from the table as the pair of blonds made their way over, and LuHan bit the inside of his lip to stifle a snicker. LuHan stood after, pulling Sehun into a tight hug before letting the youngest sit across the table from him, and sat back down, watching Minseok stay standing until ZiTao had taken his own seat.

“Such a gentleman,” LuHan teased in a whisper, feeling Minseok’s foot bump his own and he looked down at his mobile when it buzzed, frowning a little when the message said it was from Sehun.

>I really don’t think this is going to go well, ZiTao-Hyung isn’t any more interested than he was when I told him about the date.

LuHan’s eyes flickered up to Sehun’s as the younger was sliding his phone back into his pocket and he nodded a little, looking over at the other pair at the table.

“ZiTao, this is Minseok,” LuHan introduced and ZiTao gave a small nod, watching Minseok in a way that perked Sehun’s curiosity. He was making eye contact for one, so maybe this date wasn’t a whole waste of time?

“Hello,” he greeted Minseok softly, and the oldest smiled in a way that made his heart jump and caused him to look down at the table. What’s going on? He thought, trying to make himself look like he was busy with looking for what he wanted to order. I love Ge, this date is just to get Sehun to stop bothering me about wanting to be with Ge. He told himself, peeking up at Minseok from under his eyelashes when he started asking Sehun about how his classes were going now that the term had started back up.

“How about you, ZiTao?” The blond looked up from the peach tea that he had ordered, heart jumping again when Minseok’s eyes were on him. “Do you know what you want to major in?”

“I was planning martial arts… I want to teach Kung Fu to kids,” ZiTao replied.

“So you two both like kids,” LuHan piped in, ZiTao turning a confused look to him. “Minseok wants to be an elementary school teacher. He’s also an over achiever who’s making me look bad because he’s double majoring,” LuHan added in a teasing tone, Minseok nudging his shoulder in response.

“It’s not my fault that you haven’t tried to figure out what you want to do for a living,” He mused. “Sehun told me that you’re one of the transfer students at our school. You’re from China, right?” Minseok asked and ZiTao nodded. “I admire your bravery, coming to a new country for your schooling.”

“I-I’m not brave,” ZiTao stammered, feeling his cheeks burn a little. “Yifan-Ge helps me out a lot.”

“But you haven’t left.” ZiTao’s head tilted a little to the side. “I’ve heard of several transfer students who were only here for a month or two before they went home because they didn’t think they could make it. And here you are already through the first part of the term.” ZiTao swallowed hard, looking down as the waitress brought in their entrees.

“I guess,” He said once she had left, his hand coming up and messing with one of the studs in his ear. Sehun was about to pick up his fork and start to dig into his meal when his mobile buzzed in his pocket.

From: LuHan-Hyung > Is he always this easily flustered or should we take this as a good sign?

To: LuHan-Hyung > This might be a good sign.

Sehun pushed his mobile back into his pocket, looking over at ZiTao who was staring at his food, which looked like he hadn’t even touched it.

“Is everything alright, ZiTao?” Minseok asked, causing the younger to jump a little and look up. “Do you not like it?”

“I-it’s not that, it’s just…” He looked down at the plate messing with the fork in his hands. “It’s just this is… really fancy. Ge has a lot of money, and even he has never brought me somewhere near as fancy as this place is,” ZiTao explained. “It feels strange,” He added, looking up at Minseok when the other didn’t respond right away, feeling his chest tighten at the faintly somber expression on the copper haired male’s face.

“I hope I haven’t made you uncomfortable by inviting you here. From the way that Sehun talked it seemed like you enjoyed higher end things, so this was the first place that came to mind,” Minseok explained and ZiTao was shaking his head before he had finished.

“That’s not what I meant Ge- er, Hyung. I’m more so just… surprised. This is really extravagant for my first date…” ZiTao said, a couple of words slipping into Mandarin, but from the way that Minseok’s expression relaxed he must have understood enough. A silence fell over the table as they continued eating, LuHan missing none of the times that Minseok would sneak a look to ZiTao. He finished first, nudging his plate forward and leaning a little against the table.

“So ZiTao, are you a fan of coffee?” LuHan asked, and the other looked over at him before nodding. “Then you should stop in sometime at the coffee shop by the dorms. Minseok’s one of the baristas there and trust me the drinks got so much better after he started working.” Minseok rolled his eyes and gave a small shake of his head before he looked over at LuHan.

“You’re just saying that because you get free coffee when my manager isn’t around,” he pointed out, LuHan laughing.

“Free things taste better. Who knows, ZiTao, maybe he’ll give you some free coffee too. We all know how many things that he’s given you as little care packag-” LuHan was cut off when there was a dull pain in his side as Minseok had reached over to flick the skin where his shirt had risen up. LuHan looked over at the other who was just offering a smile to ZiTao.

It wasn’t long before their waitress came back in to clear their plates and offer dessert, saying she would be back with them and the check in a few minutes. ZiTao was playing with his glass since he didn’t have his meal to pretend he was distracted with any longer, his heart slowly picking up pace as he could feel Minseok smiling at him. Why did the eldest seem so happy? Was he always like this? The other two had surely told him that he wasn’t interested in someone else right?

So why? ZiTao chanced a look up, feeling his heart leap up into his throat at the gentle look in the other’s eyes as he offered a smile to ZiTao. The blond stood quickly from his seat, stammering something about going to the bathroom and turning from the table – And right into the tray that the waitress had been carrying in. She had tried to move it out of his way, but hadn’t reacted fast enough, and ZiTao’s head had collided with the corner of the tray, sending him back into his seat.

“ZiTao!” Minseok was the first in front of the blond who seemed completely disoriented by the sudden pain in his forehead, while Sehun burst out in a fit of laughter. LuHan covered his mouth to keep back a laugh of his own, sure that Minseok wouldn’t be fond of him laughing, and he watched the waitress set the tray that she somehow managed not to drop on the table.

“I-I’m so sorry, I’ll go get a cold pack,” She said quickly, making her way from the room as Minseok nudged ZiTao’s hand away from his forehead.

“It doesn’t look like you hit the tray hard enough to break skin, but it’s probably going to bruise,” Minseok said, ZiTao wincing each time that Minseok’s fingers brushed the sore spot. The waitress was back in record time, offering the cold pack to Minseok, who wrapped his scarf over it to ease the shock of something frozen pressing onto the sore spot, ZiTao flinching when he did.

“I-I’m okay G-Hyung,” ZiTao said, not sure why he kept trying to call the older Ge like he called Yifan. He tried to push Minseok’s hands away and take the cold pack in his own hand, the other seeming a little hesitant but let him. The waitress returned with the manager, both offering an abundance of apologies and ZiTao looked over at Sehun when the younger nudged him.

“Nice, Hyung, you made it so dinner was almost free,” He grinned, ZiTao pouting.

“Because that was totally my plan all along,” he muttered, fighting back a groan as his forehead throbbed.

“Seriously though, Hyung, that was hilarious,” Sehun grinned as he was unlocking the door to the dorm, and ZiTao rolled his eyes, lowering the cold pack to gingerly touch his forehead.

“Next time you try it so I can get the same experience as you,” he replied, feeling Minseok’s hand on his back, guiding him through the door into the dorm.

“I don’t think repeating this injury is a good idea,” he said, looking over at one of the doors in the dorm, recognizing the light-brown haired male who emerged from it. He looked to ZiTao, then to Minseok before his attention darted back to ZiTao and he took three long strides to stand in front of him.

“What happened, are you alright, who did this?” Yifan rattled off, ZiTao shoving his hand away when he tried to reach for the cold compress.

“You don’t get to suddenly be worried about me, now that I went out with someone,” ZiTao stated before he turned to Minseok. “Thanks for the date,” he mumbled, sounding partially shy and partially tired of dealing with people before he pushed past Yifan and disappeared behind the door that Yifan had come out of. Sehun dragged LuHan back out of the dorm, leaving Minseok and Yifan to stare at one another until Minseok started to turn away and Yifan grabbed him by the arm, earning a look almost as sharp as the one at Junmyeon gave him nearly all the time now.

“What happened? ZiTao’s my platonic soulmate, I’m not going to let you get away with it if you hurt him,” Yifan said, trying to sound in control. Minseok yanked his arm back, straightening his posture to try and make himself look a little bigger compared to the younger.

“He got up from the table and walked into the tray our waitress was carrying. And LuHan talks about ZiTao going days without talking to you, so that along with his comment to you just a moment ago leaves the impression that I’m not the one in danger of hurting him,” He replied firmly, Yifan cringing a little and watching the older turn and leave without another word.

“LuHan-Ge’s friend left this, he might want it back,” ZiTao stated, tossing the dark gray scarf at the blond on the couch, who looked down at it, then turned a confused frown to the older.

“Wait, why do you want me to give it back to him? You seemed to be falling pretty hard for him during dinner,” Sehun pointed out and ZiTao cocked an eyebrow at him before shaking his head.

“I just went on that date so you would stop bothering me about going out with you and them,” ZiTao said before buttoning his coat and sliding his mobile into his pocket. “So I don’t need to keep it around and wait until I see him again,” He finished, opening the dorm door and leaving. It wasn’t a long walk to Victoria’s and he was greeted with a tight hug before he was pulled inside her apartment.

“How are things with Yifan?” she asked, and ZiTao winced a little at how quickly she cut to the chase; usually they were talking and things just lead to things going on with the elder, but it didn’t seem like Victoria was big on tact today.

“Nothing… new really,” He replied, looking down at the cup of tea that she had slid across the table towards him, peeking up to see the ‘yeah right’ expression on her face. “Okay, maybe something new…” he added softly and she leaned forward against the table. “He got really protective last night when I came home from some dinner that Sehun dragged me on and he saw me holding a cold pack to my forehead. But I got mad at him because he kept trying to dig his nose into where I was going when we were leaving, like him going out was any different.” When he looked back up, Victoria had a surprised expression crossing her face.

“So you went on a date? With someone who wasn’t Yifan?” She asked, and ZiTao puffed out his cheeks.

“It wasn’t a real date; you know how I feel about Ge. I don’t care if I have to wait for him to get over his crush over that dumb piano player,” ZiTao grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You shouldn’t wait for someone’s relationship to end so that you can be with them. That’s the first sign that you don’t love them.” ZiTao’s eyes widened and he looked up at the other.

“I love Ge, and you know I do!”

“If you loved him, then you would want him to be happy more than you want to date him. You shouldn’t wait for someone who already knows how they feel about you. If you’re going to wait for someone, then wait for someone that makes you smile so hard that your cheeks hurt. Someone who loves you so much that you can feel it through their fingertips when they brush the hair out of your eyes and lean in to kiss you. Because love isn't about if you think someone’s attractive like I know is a big part of your initial draw to Yifan, even if you say it’s for so many other reasons than that.”

“It's about the way they eat, things they do when they're distracted or bored, when they don't think you're paying attention to something they say and you comment about it later on and catch them by surprise. How they can do things that you don't necessarily care for, or try to be a playful pest and just give you that look that makes your heart throb so hard your entire chest may hurt. And how realizing that you love them can be like a brick to the head, making it spin.

“And that can be paralyzing to realize, because it's such a slow and gradual thing that you don't even notice it, like a flower growing and the next thing you know there's this gorgeous flower blooming in your chest that can't compare to the beauty of the one lying beside you, whom by a vast number of chances is sharing the same time and space as you are. And that kind of love is rare and true, so don’t you dare accept anything else.”

ZiTao’s jaw had dropped a little while Victoria was ranting, noticing the pink that was dusting her cheeks by the end of it. Her arms were crossed over her own chest, her posture straightening and her chin was raised. When ZiTao didn’t say anything right away she peeked open one of her eyes, frowning a little at the look of awe on the younger’s face.

“What?” She asked, relaxing her posture a little.

“Jei, do you have a boyfriend?” ZiTao asked, and Victoria paused before she started laughing, uncrossing her arms.

“Not a chance.”

“But you’re in love with someone.” Victoria seemed a little caught off guard by the statement, her cheeks turning a darker shade of pink before she looked away from the younger. “You are, aren’t you Jei!” ZiTao’s face lit up and it was his turn to lean over the table. “How else would you describe love in such a pretty way?”

“Don’t go changing the subject, my little bratty peach,” She replied, reaching out and ruffling his hair, the both of them laughing.