Chapter Text
Waking up the next day, Sicheng feels the morning sun beam down on him, forcing him to wake up. He groans as he stretches his arms and legs to help himself up some more. He starts first by going through his phone for any messages. He checks his emails to make sure if everything in the China location is doing alright, and then he goes through his social media to see Ten and Johnny went out for a breakfast date at a cute cafe. After mindlessly scrolling his discover page, he decides to leave his bed. He goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He doesn’t bother to style his hair and lets his light brown hair fall down. He goes into his closet to find his dark blue hoodie and black jeans because he didn’t really want to try today.
As he is putting his wallet, keys, and phone into his sling bag to go out to run errands, he hears knocking on the door. Sicheng doesn’t remember if Ten said he would be coming over again this morning. When he opens the door, he notices Jaehyun but in more of a casual look with a plain white t-shirt and black joggers, holding a cup that looks like it is from his cafe.
“H-hey, how’s it going,” Sicheng says with a small confused look.
“I know I said I would stop by yesterday, but the shop ended up being bombarded with customers yesterday,” Jaehyun explains.
“Oh, it’s okay,” Sicheng chuckles, “Johnny and Ten came by last night and practically helped me finish everything.”
“Speaking of which,” Jaehyun mentions “Ten texted me last night that you were going to go look at places to do some grocery shopping. He asked me to take you to the place that Johnny and I go to for the coffee shop.”
Sicheng furrows his brows a little bit thinking of why Ten didn’t tell him he did that.
Jaehyun notices the change on Sicheng's face and sputters out “Oh, I mean, I don’t have to take you. I can give you the address, and you can go yourself. I know it’s weird because we literally met yesterday, and I didn’t mean to come off as creepy,” and he continues to mumble out his thoughts out of worry.
Sicheng looks at him and can’t help but smile at how cute he is for overthinking and being concerned about it. He ends up cutting Jaehyun's train of words out.
“It’s okay. I was just thinking about it because Ten didn’t tell me” and let out a small laugh. He can see Jaehyun relax his eyebrows and lets out a sigh of relief.
Sicheng continues “But really though, can you actually take me? I don’t know much of the area and I usually just go through a trial and error process of places that sell stuff in bulk. It took me like a good two months in China to find a good place that was somewhat reasonable.”
“Mhmm for sure, and yeah it took Johnny and me quite a while to find a place to help us out. I’m free for the rest of the day since Johnny is managing the shop for the rest of the afternoon” Jaehyun cheers.
“Okay sounds good, we can go now then” Sicheng responds as he comes out the door and locks in behind him.
Jaehyun looks down and notices the drink in hand.
“Oh, this is for you, consider it as a welcome gift from the cafe. Johnny mentioned that you liked Jasmine green tea, so I brought the cafe a special blend. It might be a little bit cold though.”
Sicheng takes a sip as they are walking to Jaehyun’s car. He can’t help but smile. The taste warms him up. It is the perfect type of drink during the autumn season that washes worry away and allows him to feel as though he is home.
“Is that lemon?” Sicheng asks as they are stepping inside Jaehyun’s car.
“Yeah, I’m glad you can taste it” Jaehyun laughs, “Ten mentioned to me how much you enjoy it, so I decided to add it to the tea blend”
Sicheng smiles and blushes a little bit.
The car drive was about 20 minutes and it wasn’t too awkward. They sat in comfortable silence with the radio playing low. Jaehyun would occasionally bring up small landmarks about the area. He mentioned about the school a couple blocks away and how a lot of students come to the coffee shops during their exam season and how Sicheng bakery will help them out with food since there aren't a whole lot of options close by. He also mentions the park close by and that's where he usually goes on runs sometimes since there is a small trail, and occasionally brings drinks for the neighborhood kids and parents during the summer. Sicheng nods in agreement but cannot help and think about how sweet Jaehyun is and how he cares a lot about others.
Sicheng's thoughts are cut off when Jaehyun parks the car in front of the grocery store, and Sicheng's jaw drops about how massive the store is. As they enter, he notices that a fourth of the grocery store is a Chinese restaurant and the smell emitting from it is immaculate, while the rest of the area is a massive grocery section that has a mixture of different fruits, vegetables, meats, and all in between.
“Pretty cool right?” Jaehyun grins as he looks at Sicheng’s lit up face.
“Definitely” Sicheng musters out from his amazement.
They first go through the grocery store. Sicheng is grateful that Jaehyun took him here because each aisle had an endless supply of different products and he was able to find certain brands that are hard to find for his bakery. Eventually, Jaehyun takes him to the back of the grocery store where there is a small section where you can place an order for bulk. Jaehyun hands him over a piece of paper and tells him to fill it out. Once he finishes it up, Jaehyun rings the bell on the counter, and then he notices a nice looking male with nice long hair.
“Hey Yuta how’s it going?” Jaehyun greets him in a friendly tone.
“It’s going good, weird seeing you here today, you usually come towards the end of the month. So, what brings you here today?” Yuta asks.
“Oh, this is Sicheng” as Jaehyun points his attention to him, “he is opening a new bakery across the street. You know the one that Ten kept bringing up.”
Yuta turns to Sicheng “Oh you’re the famous baker that Ten doesn’t stop hyping about. Well, it is nice to meet you. A friend of Jaehyun and Johnny is a friend of mine. I’ll make sure that your stuff is the top quality.”
Sicheng can’t help but feel shy and stutters out a simple thank you as he hands Yuta his order list.
“Well, I hope your new bakery does amazing, and I can have them drop off your order by the end of the week. It was nice meeting you and take care.” Yuta chuckles.
After a series of small goodbyes and thank yous, Sicheng starts to do his grocery shopping. He picks up the basic items: eggs, milk, bread, cereal, meat, fruits, and vegetables. Throughout it all, Jaehyun is trailing next to him, and Sicheng oddly enjoys the companionship. Compared to shopping with Ten, Jaehyun isn’t talking a whole lot, but Sicheng doesn’t mind. They have this interesting dynamic of being able to enjoy each other's presence without any words, and it is something Sicheng can get used to.
Once they reach the snack and drink aisle, it is where Sicheng contemplates for a little bit longer than usual. Jaehyun notices and asks him what’s going on through his head right now.
“I don’t know what flavor drinks to get for myself” Sicheng states, “I usually get the original flavors, but I don’t know.”
Jaehyun hums while he thinks and looks around, and SIcheng notices that he grabbed a pack that is peach flavored. Sicheng looks at him with a questioning look.
“I usually like peach and this is something that Johnny used to get me all the time in college. He said it reminded him of me because I look like a peach and sweet as one too.”
Sicheng can’t help but laugh and suddenly they both are just laughing in the middle of a snack aisle.
After a couple more minutes of grabbing an assortment of chips and candy, they end up checking out, and Sicheng asks him if they can eat at the Chinese restaurant before heading back home. Jaehyun agrees and they head into the restaurant after putting the groceries away in the car.
Once they step inside. Sicheng hears a familiar voice calling him out.
“Oh my god, is that the man himself Winwin?”
Sicheng turns around and smiles at the familiar face, “Hi Kunnie!” as he goes into a quick hug.
Now it was Sicheng's turn to explain as he noticed Jaehyun’s confused expression.
“This is Kun. He was the year above me in culinary school and basically saved me from failing multiple classes. He would stay up with me to make sure I was doing things correctly and would help me if I couldn’t figure out what to put in my recipes. He also used to cook a lot for me in college since I was always too lazy” Sicheng explains as Jaehyun gives a nod of understanding.
“I can’t take all the credit, and also I didn’t know you decided to come back. You never update anyone anymore.” Kun jokes.
“Well, I am here now and speak for yourself, you didn’t tell me you decided to open a restaurant here” Sicheng banters back.
“YAAA” Kun retorts “I am glad to see you again, and you can go seat anywhere. I’ll go make your favorites.”
Kun brings out Sicheng's favorite foods that he ate while in college and they taste even better than he remembers. While eating, Sicheng and Jaehyun take the opportunity to get to know each other. Sicheng finds out that Jaehyun is the same age as him, and he knows Johnny and Yuta because in college they were in the same fraternity. He learns that Johnny and Jaehyun were both baristas in college, and both had a shared passion of opening a business, which is how their business came to be. It eventually turns back to Sicheng about his college life and his other hobbies such as dancing. Both talking about their different college experiences, they realize how similar they are with their respective social groups, but Jaehyun carries more of an outgoing personality compared to Sicheng. Usually, Sicheng would be uncomfortable being around guys in frats, especially during college, when they would always come up to him and make conversation just to take him to bed. But, Jaehyun doesn’t emit that type of energy, and he is able to feel comfortable throughout the whole time while eating.
After their meal was finished, both of them thanked Kun for the food and promised to come back next time. As they were driving back home, Jaehyun asked his family if he has siblings or parents. Sicheng tenses up and stays quiet a little bit creating an awkward silence.
“I am an only child, and I don’t really talk to my parents as much anymore” Sicheng stutters out trying to not make the environment any more awkward.
It feels like Sicheng’s turn to overthink. He feels guilty about dropping that small truth because he doesn't want to create any hidden tension between his new neighbor. He was preparing himself for Jaehyun to dig more deeper like everyone else, and he didn’t know if he was emotionally ready for that conversation, especially with someone new.
Luckily, Jaehyun just hums and says in a calm tone “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I understand where you are coming from.”
Sicheng is taken aback a little bit by his response. This is probably the first time with someone that gave him the needed space. All he does though is give a silent head nod and a simple sorry.
“Don’t be sorry. It is okay, some topics aren’t met to be talked about till later.” Jaehyun states.
Jaehyun parks his car and they both walk back to Sicheng's apartment with groceries in hand. As they are walking, they are able to enjoy comfortable silence with just the noise of the nearby restaurants and cars being heard. They arrive at Sicheng's apartment and put his groceries away in his kitchen.
“Thank you for today,” Sicheng exclaims, “I had a good time and appreciate your help.”
Jaehyun smiles back “No problem at all. I had a good time too and I hope we can hang out together again in the future.”
Sicheng and Jaehyun are just looking at each other and taking in each other's stares. Sicheng notices how pretty he looks with his casual outfit and his soft hair. He remembers the first time they met the other day and even if his outfit is more casual, Sicheng still falls into a trance by Jaehyun’s features. It looked like Jaehyun was going to say something, but then he was rudely interrupted by Sicheng’s phone.
Sicheng reaches for his phone to check who it was and it was Ten just texting him to call.
Sicheng looks back up and says “Sorry about that, but yeah I hope we can hang out too. It takes me a while to like new people, especially because I am super awkward here and there.”
“You are not awkward, and even if you were, I still would spend time with a pretty boy” Jaehyun replies back.
Sicheng stumbles back and can’t help but blush and Jaehyun can’t help but smile wider.
“U-Uh, thanks and I’ll let you know next time we can hang out” as Sicheng hurriedly closes the door.
He feels like an idiot as he pushes his back against the door and sits down thinking about what Jaehyun just said. Sicheng definitely doesn’t blush at those types of compliments from anyone and he usually is more composed than that. No matter who whether it was Ten or a stranger, he would always just brush it off and react with a straight face
He opens his phone and sends him a message.
[6:13] Sorry about that I didn’t mean to be that way. Thank you again for today :)
He looks at it with content, until he notices that Jaehyun sent a message back almost right away.
[6:14] Jaehyun: It is okay haha. I also enjoyed today too and can’t wait till we hang out again. Btw, I really like seeing you blush :3
He stares at his phone and ends up thinking about the message for the rest of the night, forgetting completely about calling Ten.