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“Has your Prince Charming shown up yet?”
“He’s not my Prince Charming!”
“You get all heart-eyes the minute he walks through the door!”
“No, I don’t”
“Yes, you do! You even put extra bubbles in his tea every time! Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? I see everything, Taozi!”
“He’s a loyal customer, he deserves special treatment, that’s all…”
“Oh, I know what kind of special treatment you want to give –”
“Hyung!”
“Don’t try to deny it, Tao!”
“You’re the worst!”
“Speak of the devil…”
Sehun, a tall, blond-haired boy, started coming regularly to the bubble tea shop a few months after Jongdae had started working there. They never really spoke to each other except for a little bit of small talk on days in which there wasn’t another customer for Jongdae to handle, but the cashier enjoyed seeing his familiar face nearly every day. Apparently, Zitao enjoyed it too, but for different reasons, and while Jongdae would always try to get a confession out of the Chinese man, the latter would constantly deny having a crush on the blond guy.
“Good afternoon, Sehun! The usual?”
“Can you make it two today, hyung? I’m meeting my friends and one of them asked me to order for him as well.”
“Of course! Two large chocolate teas coming right up!”
“Thanks, hyung! Hi, Tao-hyung!”
Jongdae tried to pay attention to their conversation (or lack thereof), but the bell above the door rang, signaling the entrance of a new customer. As Jongdae looked up to greet them, he saw two men talking to each other.
“I honestly don’t know how you drink that, hyung. It’s gross!”, said the taller guy.
“It’s coffee, Nini. That’s what real adults drink, not this liquid sugar rush you and Hunnie are addicted to.” The shorter man said, hidden by the other’s back.
“Oh, there he is! Hunnie!” Tall guy called out, gesturing in Sehun’s direction. As Sehun turned to him, tall guy opened his arms and went for a hug, leaving Jongdae facing short guy – who happened to be one of the most beautiful people the cashier had ever seen in his entire life. He spent quite a few second staring at his sharp, cat-like eyes before finally stepping back into reality.
“Uh, good afternoon, sir. Can I – can I get you anything?”
“Uh, no, thanks, I’m –” The man gestured with his hand holding a cup of Americano.
“Minseok-hyung!” Sehun called and the man – Minseok – turned to where he was standing with the Nini guy, following both of them to a booth in the corner of the shop.
Minseok was seated facing Jongdae, but he was so immersed in his conversation with the other two guys that he didn’t spare the cashier a glance, which was good for Jongdae, in a way, since he wouldn’t catch his stares. Zitao, however, didn’t miss the way his co-worker’s eyes kept fluttering back to the handsome stranger at table 9.
---
“Is that the boy you have your eyes on, Hunnie? The panda?”
“I don’t have my eyes on anybody! And that’s big talk for someone who looks like a sleepy bear cub!”
“Hey! Only Taemin-hyung gets to call me baby bear!”
“Oh, please! I do not need any more details of my brother’s relationship with that kid!” Minseok quickly interrupted.
“Minseok-hyung is right, keep the sordid details between the two of you, Nini!”
“Fine, then. Let’s get down to business. I know Junmyeon-hyung said he didn’t want anything for his birthday, that we shouldn’t worry about it and all that, but I really want to throw him a surprise party! Nothing big, you know, just him, the three of us, Taemin-hyung, Chanyeol-hyung, Yixing-hyung, Kyungsoo-hyung, Baekhyun-hyung, maybe Seulgi-noona and Yerim?”
“I think it’s really nice that you want to throw Junmyeon a party, Nini, but don’t you have that big exhibit coming up around the same time? Won’t that take up too much of your time?” Minseok asked, worried about his younger brother.
“That’s why you called us here, isn’t it? You want us to plan the party for you?” Sehun weighed in.
“Well… Technically you’d only be helping me plan the whole thing… I mean, I’ll try to balance everything, but…”
“What do you say, Minseok-hyung? Should we ask for something in return?”
“Sehun!”
“He’s right, Nini! If we’re going to plan the party for you –”
“With me!”
“If we’re going to plan the party ‘with’ you, we’re going to need some sort of payment…”
“Come on, hyung! Doesn’t Junmyeon-hyung, your best friend, deserve a nice get-together for his birthday?”
“…Ugh. Fine. But Sehun has to do it with me.”
“Hunnie? Pretty please?”
“Promise me you won’t mention details of your relationship with your weird boyfriend until the party happens and I’ll do it.”
“Deal! Thank you so, so much! Listen, I have to go now, but let me know about the details, alright? See you!” Sehun and Minseok wave Jongin goodbye as the latter sprints out of the shop.
“So, hyung, I guess it’s just the two of us now…”
“Ugh, the things I do for Nini… Should we start with the guest list? I think we can comfortably fit about fifteen to twenty people in my place, so we can have the party there.”
“Okay, so Junmyeon-hyung, myself, you, Nini, Yerim, Taemin-hyung, Yixing-hyung, Chanyeol-hyung, Kyungsoo-hyung, Baekhyun-hyung, Seulgi-noona… that’s only eleven.”
“Oh, you know who else we should call? Minho!”
“Minho? As in Choi Minho? Captain-of-your-football-team-in-college Choi Minho?”
“Exactly! He used to be friends with Junmyeon! I don’t know if they still talk to each other, but I know he’s friends with Taemin, so he won’t be alone either way!”
“Okay, so that’s twelve people.”
“Here’s an idea: why don’t you invite panda boy over there to go as your plus-one? I know you’ve been trying to work up some courage to ask him out, and now you have the perfect opportunity!”
“I don’t know, hyung… What if he says no? What if he already has someone? What if he’s not interested in me? What if he’s not interested in boys at all? He seems shy, I doubt a party full of strangers would be a good first date… And last but not least, if he turns me down, I’ll be too embarrassed to come here again, and this is my favorite bubble tea shop in the whole city! I can’t afford to lose that!”
---
“Do you think they’re on a date?”
“What?”
“Sehun and cat-man, does it look like a date to you?”
“I thought you didn’t have a crush on Sehun…”
“Just answer the question, hyung!”
“I don’t know, Tao… I mean, I haven’t really been paying attention to –”
“Yes, you have! I saw you staring at them, hyung!”
“Okay, fine! Maybe I did look at them for a little while! That is one beautiful man!”
“Yeah, yeah, but do you think he’s on a date with Sehun?”
“Well, there was another guy with them, that’s very un-date-like…”
“Maybe he was setting them up? Did you see how he rushed out the door?”
Jongdae prayed to the high heavens that this wasn’t the case, but now that Tao had mentioned it, they did seem very comfortable and entertained with each other, and their conversation seemed to be flowing nicely – if this was a date, it was definitely a good one.
---
“Listen, Hunnie, I think I have to go now – I told Yerim I’d drive her to a doctor’s appointment and I need to pick her up. Do you want to meet here tomorrow so we can continue planning?”
“Sure, hyung! We can meet somewhere else if this is too far for you –”
“No, no, this is fine!”
“But I know you don’t like bubble tea, so –”
“No, don’t worry about it, I’ll just grab some coffee across the street and meet you here, okay? Is three p.m. okay for you?”
“Uh, sure, hyung… Say hi to Yerim for me!”
“Will do! See you tomorrow, Hunnie!”
Sehun was right – Minseok really didn’t like bubble tea and the shop was quite far away from his office, but he knew the younger man loved the place, going there nearly every single day. He also knew about Sehun’s major crush on one of the workers of the shop, and he planned on helping him do something about it. Seeing the really cute cashier again would only be a bonus for being a good friend.
---
“They’re together again.” Tao observed the next afternoon.
“Who?”
“Sehun and cat-man, see? Across the street, leaving the café!”
“I think they’re coming here?”
“Oh, of course they are! The universe just had to rub their perfect date in my face!”
“Whatever happened to not having a crush on him, Tao?”
“Shut up, hyung! Here they come!”
Once again, Sehun ordered his usual chocolate tea, greeting Jongdae and Zitao in the process. The other guy, however, simply sat down at the table they had used the previous day, coffee cup in hand, waiting for Sehun to join him. This time, it seemed at lot less like a date and a lot more like a business meeting – they seemed to be making lists, comparing items and coming up with ideas, at least from where Zitao was standing.
A while later, when Jongdae left the front of the shop for his break, Sehun approached the counter.
“Hi, Tao-hyung.”
“Hi, Sehun! Do you want another drink? Perhaps something for your… date?”
“What? Oh, no! Minseok-hyung? He’s not my date! Why would you say that?”
“Well… You two seemed to be having a good time together… Not that I was staring, you know… I just… I thought…”
“No, no, he’s my friend! Do you remember the guy who was with us yesterday?”
“The one you ordered a tea for? Was he your date?”
“No! He’s my best friend, Jongin! Minseok-hyung is his brother!”
“Oh… I see…”
“Yeah, Nini came up with the idea of throwing a birthday party for one of our friends, Junmyeon-hyung, but he doesn’t have a lot of time to plan it, so hyung and I are helping him…”
“Oh, really? That’s… really sweet of you…”
“You think so?”
“Yeah!”
“Uh, thanks… Actually…”
“…Yeah?”
“Do you… Maybe… Would you like to come to the party?”
“Oh… I… Thanks, Sehun, but I don’t know anyone there, so… I don’t want to intrude…” Zitao wanted nothing more than to say yes, but he didn’t think Sehun meant it to be a date.
“Oh. I see. I mean, you wouldn’t intrude at all, and I’d really like to have you there, but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable either, so…” Sehun started to walk back to his table, looking somewhat defeated.
“Hey, Sehun?” Zitao called, and the blond boy turned in his direction again.
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t we… Why don’t we hang out this weekend? If you’re free, I mean! Maybe… Maybe I’d be more comfortable, you know…”
“Yeah!” Sehun agreed before Zitao could even offer him a way out. “Yeah, that would be great!”
“Okay! If you give me your number, we can work out the details through text…”
“Sure!” He quickly typed his contact info on Zitao’s phone, and the older boy did the same to him.
“So, I guess I’ll talk to you later?”
“Yeah!” This time, he looked a lot happier as he walked back to his seat.
---
“Given your smile, I take it he said yes?” Minseok asked as soon as Sehun sat down.
“Well, kind of? He said he’d be uncomfortable going to the party, but he did ask for my number – we’re hanging out this weekend… I’m just not sure if it counts as a date? He thought you and I were dating at first!”
“He did?” Minseok wondered if his co-worker had thought the same.
“Yeah, weird, right? Maybe he was jealous? Or am I reading too much into it?”
“I don’t know, Hunnie… Maybe you should ask him that on your date.”
---
“Guess who’s going on a date this weekend!” Zitao half whispered, half shouted as soon as Jongdae came back from his break.
“Who?”
“I am! With Sehun!”
“Wait, what? He asked you out? What about handsome guy over there?”
“Well, I think we asked each other out? I mean, technically, I asked him to hang out this weekend, but it’s a date in my mind. Also, yeah, they’re not dating – cat-man and the other guy who came yesterday are brothers and they’re both friends with Sehun, they’re planning a party together.”
“Huh… Good to know.”
---
Ever since that Tuesday, Sehun and Minseok had met each other in the bubble tea shop every day. It was finally Saturday, and Sehun and Zitao were going to the movies after getting some ice cream – they had been texting all week, and when Sehun asked Zitao if they were going on a date or just hanging out as friends, they confessed their crushes on each other.
“I think Minseok-hyung has a crush on Jongdae-hyung.” Sehun said, halfway through his chocolate chip ice cream cone.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, he doesn’t even like bubble tea and his office is really far from the shop, but whenever I suggest that we have our meetings elsewhere, he immediately says no! And I’ve caught him staring at Jongdae-hyung quite a few times, so…”
“Ugh, Jongdae-hyung is always staring at him! I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed it yet!”
“Do you think we should invite Jongdae-hyung to the party next Friday? That way, you’ll have someone to talk to besides me and he and Minseok-hyung could get to know each other!”
“Sehun, you’re a brilliant man! But do you think they would agree to that?”
“Of course! I just need to work my charm on them!”
“As if that would work…”
“It worked with you, didn’t it?”
---
“I don’t know, Tao… Showing up to a random birthday party isn’t really my favorite way of spending a Friday night…”
“But hyung, Sehun invited us!”
“Sehun invited you!”
“At first, yeah, but once I told him I’d be uncomfortable, he told me to invite you too!”
“That doesn’t count as inviting me!”
“Yes, it does! Please, hyung! I really want to go, but I don’t want to go alone!” Tao pouted in a cute way, trying to convince Jongdae.
“Hi, Tao-hyung! Hi, Jongdae-hyung! You’re coming to the party on Friday, right? This is Minseok-hyung, my planning buddy and the host!” Sehun said as he walked into the shop, with Minseok following his steps.
“Yes, we are!” Tao immediately replied.
“Zitao!” Jongdae would have scolded him had they not been in front of customers.
“I really hope you guys can make it!” Minseok said, and wow, Jongdae could listen to his voice for ours on end. “It will be just a small gathering, but I’m sure it’ll be fun!”
“Uh, yeah, I… We’ll be there, yeah…” Jongdae barely managed to utter a reply.
“Great! Minseok-hyung and I are about to go over the final details. Can I have a large chocolate tea, please?”
“Coming right up, Sehunnie!”
---
Since Sehun had said they were done with planning the previous afternoon, Jongdae was really surprised to see Minseok walking into the shop by himself on Tuesday.
“Hi! Jongdae, right?”
“Uh, yeah… What can I get you today, Minseok?”
“Your phone number, maybe?”
“My what?” Jongdae thanked the heavens for the fact that Zitao was on his break and didn’t hear his voice crack on that sentence.
“I’m sorry, was that too forward of me? I just thought we could get to know each other better before the party – I’m sorry for assuming you were interested in me–”
“I am! I am, uh, interested in you, I just, uh, never mind. Yeah, you can have my number, here, let me type it for you.”
“Great!” Minseok said when they were done. “I have to go back to my office now, I just came by to talk to you…”
“Oh! Thanks, I guess? I, uh, I’ll see you at the party then…”
“I’ll be looking forward to it!” And Minseok left, but not before winking at Jongdae.
---
Friday came around and Zitao was thrilled to meet Sehun again. Jongdae, however, was extremely nervous. He had been texting Minseok, but they hadn’t seen each other since that day at the shop, and now Jongdae was about to meet his friends all at once.
When they got to Minseok’s apartment, Tao immediately went after Sehun, leaving Jongdae alone with a very nervous-looking Minseok.
“Is everything okay, hyung?”
“Maybe? I don’t really know…”
“Did something happen?”
“Kind of… It’s a long story…”
“I have time!”
Minseok led him into the kitchen and explained everything after they sat down. They had invited an old friend of the birthday boy, Junmyeon, who used to play football with Minseok in college. Apparently, this guy, Minho, was Junmyeon’s college crush, but nobody knew about that until that night, when a shocked Junmyeon, upon hearing that Minho had been invited, confessed his feelings to his friends.
“So, we don’t know how Jun will feel when Minho shows up – if he shows up – but he shouldn’t have to deal with this during his own birthday party, you know? And now I feel bad, because I was the one who suggested inviting Minho in the first place!”
“Hyung, you didn’t know! Don’t beat yourself up over that! Come on, you said we would have fun tonight, didn’t you? Stop worrying about that and let’s have some fun!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right… Thanks, Jongdae.”
---
Minho showed up to the party a while after that, holding a bouquet of roses and telling Junmyeon he’d always been in love with him, even after all this time. The pair spent most of the party lost in each other’s presence, as did Jongdae and Minseok – it was as if the rest of the party didn’t exist. After everyone had left, Jongdae was about to say goodbye to Minseok when the latter pulled him into the kitchen once again.
“Thanks again for helping me calm down, Jongdae. It was really nice having you here – maybe you’d like to come some other time, when there’s less chatter? I could cook us some dinner…”
“I’d love to, hyung. Thank you for tonight.” Jongdae said. Maybe it was the wine he’d drunk that night, but he was suddenly feeling very brave, and he leaned into Minseok, sealing their lips together. The older man reciprocated, and they kissed for a while, until they heard a small laughter coming from the hallway.
“Seems like our plan worked, Taozi!”
“You really are a brilliant man, Sehunnie!”