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“YOUR boyfriend dropped off another pie,” Bang Chan said, a quiet snigger slipping through his lips.
Minho heaved a theatrical sigh, even going through the trouble of rolling his eyes shortly. A soft tsk sound left his lips as he looked away from the flower pots he was arranging.
“He is not my boyfriend,”
Chan barked out laughter. "You've been saying that for three weeks. He's dropped off an apple pie every single days in those three weeks. You really sure about that?"
Minho simply stayed quiet. He'd learned over the years that Chan liked to tease him, and defending himself would only make it worse. So he allowed the older boy knock himself out while he carefully arranged the pots on the stand.
He had a history of breaking things so he had to be extra careful around fragile things. As he worked, his mind wandered to nothing in particular but they did linger on the pastry store across the street, HAN'S DELIGHT, displayed above the small building in bold.
“Minho?”
The said boy finally turned to face Chan who stared at him with a knowing look —one which included his brows dipping and his lips thinning into a straight line.
"Spacing out again?" Without waiting for an answer, he added: "I was asking if you've told him you're allergic to apple pies?"
Minho shook his head and dusted his fingers on his apron.
"Well, you're gonna have to tell him soon. We can't keep letting his hard work go to waste and you know Felix and I can't eat it all,"
Minho sighed and looked out of the large windows to the kawaii themed pastry store across the road. By the tone of Chan's voice, he'd gathered that soon meant today. Chan was his friend but also his hyung and Minho had learned to respect that. Besides, the flower shop belonged to Chan and Minho felt like he was abusing his privileges by having apple pie delivered to him daily. Even though he never ordered.
The rest of the day was dreadfully slow. Other than Lee Felix, Chan's boyfriend, only two other people came to the store and even then, only one ordered the cheapest flower they had.
Finally, closing time drew near and Minho sighed as he glanced at the clock hanging above the door. The time was crawling to 7PM, only a few minutes left. Chan returned from his journey to the back room.
"Don't forget what I told you," he said, giving Minho a stern look, "And take a flower with you, to thank him for all the nice gestures,"
Minho had to bite down on his lips to interrupt a groan. He didn't want to visit the pastry shop, neither did he want to give the owner any flowers. Minho hadn't asked for the kind gestures so why return it? But he knew that his words would only fall on deaf ears so he simply swallowed it. Less than a few moments later, he strolled across the street, hood up and a yellow carnation in his hand.
The pastry store didn't close until seven thirty so Minho had a bit of time. Other than two workers, it was empty so he strolled to the counter and squeezed the flower in his hand.
"I'm looking for the owner.” he spoke gruffly to the two young looking boys behind the counter.
"Hyung!" The one with midnight black hair belted out of nowhere, making Minho jump. "Someone's looking for you,"
"Yah! Kim Seungmin, what did I tell you about yelling in my store," Minho heard the person's voice get closer with every word.
The Seungmin kid looked sheepish and muttered an apology under his breath. His 'hyung' finally emerged, dusting his hands on his apron. He looked around until his eyes eventually landed on Minho.
"Oh," he simply said, "Hello, there!"
Minho sighed and abruptly handed him the flower. "Thank you for your kind gestures," he repeated Chan's words through gritted teeth.
The store owner's face immediately lit up as he accepted the flower, cradling it delicately. "You're very welcome! Thank you for this,"
Minho nodded curtly, promptly turning on his heels to be on his way.
"Wait!" The man cried, jogging past the two boys and around the counter to catch up to Minho. "I never caught your name,"
That's 'cause I never told you, Minho thought, suppressing an eye roll. "Lee Minho."
"Nice to meet you, Lee Minho-ssi. I'm Han Jisung, twenty-two and I own this place." Jisung beamed proudly, gesturing around the small but cosy pastry store.
So I'm his hyung, then.
Minho blinked drolly at the happy man. "I should get going, Chan will be worried," he lied.
Chan would be sucking off Felix's face, that's what he'll be doing.
"Oh, right!" Minho nodded, "He's your coworker, right?"
Minho, struggling to get away from the conversation, gave a short nod.
"Well, then," Jisung walked over to the showcase and picked out a box of strawberry glazes donuts, stretching it out to Minho, "Have this. For Chan and yourself."
Minho looked down at the box of donuts, hesitating a bit. He wanted to pay but he never went to work with his wallet. It felt like he was ripping Jisung off. He shook his head but Jisung insisted.
"Thank you." Minho muttered. He turned to the door once more.
"Hey, Minho-ssi!" Jisung called out with a smile. Minho closed his eyes in anger, turning around slowly. "What kind of shoes do ninjas wear?" The boys at the back of the counter began to snigger. Minho shrugged. "Sneakers!"
And then Jisung was doubled over laughing as if it was the funniest thing in the world. He had a kind of unique laugh that Minho could not explain. It was really soft yet unforgettable, but he didn't seem to mind. He shook his head and let a small smile linger on his face as he stared at Jisung, before slowly turning back around and walking out of the store.
an apple a day.
“HE told you a dad joke about ninjas?" Chan couldn't help himself as he doubled over in laughter, clutching at his sides.
Minho had never minded Chan's laugh but at that moment, he thought it was obnoxious. He rolled his eyes and ran a slender hand through his light brown hair.
Felix smacked his boyfriend's arm playfully, to get him to stop. "Well, I think it's cute. He seems to have a nice personality,"
Chan straightened and stared at his boyfriend. "If I'd told you a dad joke the first time we met, we probably wouldn't be together,"
"Well, it definitely would've been better than you offering to go down on me," Felix scrunched his nose, swiping red hair from his face, "I don't know what I saw in you."
"Hey! I'll have you know I'm a very priceless commodity and you're lucky to have me," Chan folded his arms across his chest and jutted his bottom lip at his boyfriend.
Felix laughed and responded with an of course, babe. He then turned to Minho who stood near the shelf closer to the glass door. His eyes were fixed on the pastry store across the street as he had a clear view of it from his position.
"So, Min, what did you think?" Felix asked his friend, leaning on the counter.
Minho turned to him, dragging his eyes away from the shop slowly. "Hm?"
"Of the shop owner. Jisung, was it? Is he cute?"
Minho rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. Of course Felix would ask that. "I don't know, Felix. I didn't particularly go there to eye him up, you know,"
"Yeah, you went there to give him flowers and ask him to stop delivering those damn apple pies which obviously didn't work because…" Chan said, pointing at the apple pie that lay untouched in a box on the counter next to him.
Minho bit his lip. "I forgot to tell him that,"
Felix beamed. "Hm. A little distracted, then? By his face, perhaps. I've seen him and he’s quite a looker,"
"Wow, just go ahead and ignore your boyfriend who's looking like a three course meal over here, all for Jisung," Chan grumbled sarcastically, only letting a small smile linger on his lips when Felix leaned in to peck his lips shortly.
"Felix, you know me. And you know I'm not looking to be in a relationship any time soon." Minho discussed, while rearranging some of the flowers.
"And I respect that. I'm just saying, get to know the guy. It wouldn't kill to have some new friends, you know. Especially ones who give you free pastries," Felix joked, nudging Minho on the ribs and flashing him a smile.
Minho said nothing, only busied himself with the flowers and stole glances at the shop across the street. He had more than enough friends, he didn't need to add the chirpy store owner who told dad jokes to strangers to his list.
As the day progressed, Minho found himself thinking over Felix words. And not because of the free pastries. Ever since he went into HAN’S DELIGHT last night, he was unable to get the owner out of his head which was odd because Minho was usually one to forget names and faces, Chan always having to whisper the name of a person they'd already met before Minho could greet them.
So why then was Jisung running through his mind all day. He sighed and leaned on the counter. It was a busy day so a lot of customers came in. Minho didn't even have the time to take a break, and neither did Chan. The latter just ate the apple pie on the job. Minho was allergic to anything apple so he was forced to have nothing in his stomach all day.
Finally closing time drew near and Minho couldn't have been any more grateful. They closed at least half an hour later than usual and Minho could feel the bones in his body disintegrating into smithereens of dust. As the last customer left, he wished Chan a good night and hurried out of the store.
Chan would stay behind to check out their inventory whilst waiting for Felix to come pick him up. Usually Felix dropped off Minho, too but the younger boy was too tired to wait. His apartment was in ten minutes walking distance so it wasn't all that unbearable.
As he walked with his head down, he suddenly heard his name being called to the right of him.
"Yah! Minho-ssi!"
He turned his head to the sound of the voice and soon came to realise it was Jisung who was crossing the street and making his way over to him. Minho had to try very hard to suppress a groan. Nothing against the guy, he just wasn't very good with strangers and he wanted to get home and fall face first on his bed as fast as he could.
"Hey," Jisung smiled once he reached the younger boy. "Heading home?"
Minho nodded and they fell into pace walking together.
"Me too. I live just a couple blocks away from here,"
Minho said nothing, only playing with his fingers and trudging one foot in front of the other.
"You don't talk much, do you? Well, that's alright. I don't mind the silence," Jisung said sweetly, rubbing his hands together and running them through his pastel coloured hair.
They walked in silence, only their footsteps sounding on the cemented pavement. Minho enjoyed the silence and was glad that Jisung actually kept to his word and did not disrupt their walk with small talk.
Finally, Minho reached his complex and halted. "This is me," he spoke quietly, putting his fingers in his pockets.
"Oh," Jisung muttered, looking up at the nice looking student apartment. "Well then, goodnight, Minho-ssi,"
Minho hesitated. "Will you — are you going to get home safe?"
Jisung grinned and pointed to a small house a few blocks down the street. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I didn't know you lived here, looks like we're neighbours,"
Minho nodded. "Yeah,"
They were enveloped in silence once again and it seemed that Jisung wanted to say something so Minho raised a brow at him and cocked his head to the side questioningly.
"I was wondering, since we basically live a few feet apart from each other, would you like to walk home together everyday?"
Minho's eyes widened in surprise, not exactly expecting that. But he kept his cool and cleared his throat. "Depends when you get off?"
"Only thirty minutes after you do so you can wait in my shop, if you don't mind," Jisung offered, biting his lips nervously.
Minho furrowed his brows, contemplating if he really wanted that. He knew that Felix and Chan would want him to say yes but really, he was bad with humans and he didn't want Jisung to see him as weird for being quiet or grumpy and disassociating all the time. He decided to just give it a try.
"Okay. Sounds good,"
"Really?" Jisung literally lit up. "Great — cool! I'll see you tomorrow, then. I don't want to keep you waiting, goodnight Minho-ssi, again!"
"Just Minho is fine," he muttered audibly. "Goodnight," he turned to enter his complex.
"Hey, Minho!" Jisung called out with a bright smile, eyes twinkling under the street lights. "What do you call cheese that's not yours?" Minho shook his head. "Nacho cheese!"
There was that unique, almost indescribable laugh again.
Minho smiled. "Goodnight, Jisung.”
Then he made his way into his complex, a lingering smile on his face. He waited on the stairs until he saw Jisung cross the street and make his way into his house safely before walked up to his room. That was one of the dumbest jokes he'd ever heard, yet it managed to make him smile at least.
Chan was going to give him hell for it tomorrow.
keeps the doctor away.
“YOU okay, mate?” Chan asked in concern as he stared straight at Minho who was fixated on the building across from theirs.
"Thanks for asking," Minho smiled. "No I am not.”
Chan laughed a bit but straightened once he realised Minho was being serious. "What's going on? Is it because I drank your orange juice again? I already told you, I thought you'd had some before."
Minho sighed and scattered his hair with his hands. He then drew his eyes away from HAN'S DELIGHT across the street and to his best friend.
"It's not that," he said. "I don't know, I just feel weird, I guess."
Chan's eyes went to the shop across the road and then the empty spot on their counter and he smiled knowingly.
"I see. You're missing your little apple pies," he laughed.
Minho turned red almost immediately. "I'm not. I just — I don't even like apple pie so I don't know what you're talking about,"
"Yeah, but you like the thought of your little squirrel boy thinking about you enough to make it everyday. But now for the first time in almost a month, you come to work and there's no apple pie waiting for you. So you're naturally upset. No need to hide it, I can tell," Chan spoke with a particular softness in his tone that had Minho feeling better.
It was no secret that Minho never really been in tune with his emotions. He sometimes felt down and he could never understand why, so Chan was always there to explain his feelings to him and for that, he was eternally grateful.
He sighed and turned to Chan. "So what do I do?"
Chan shrugged. "Well, he obviously didn't make it for a reason so I'll say go find out,"
Minho visibly winced. "But that's embarrassing,"
The atmosphere quickly turned tense as Chan paused and looked him dead in the eye. "Showing people you care is in no way embarrassing, Minho. Don't you ever believe that,"
Minho knew what he was hinting at: his horrible past. Minho hadn't had the smoothest of sails when it came to his upbringing but he was honestly trying to get rid of the norms he'd lived by growing up, but old habits die hard and some were harder to get rid of than others.
"Okay?" Chan pressed.
"Yeah," Minho breathed. "Showing people I care is not embarrassing,"
"Repeat it," Chan demanded.
"Chan—“
"Repeat it!"
"Okay," Minho bit his tongue. "Showing people I care is not embarrassing,"
"Again! Louder!"
"Showing people I care is not embarrassing!" Minho shouted receiving a satisfied smile from Chan who engulfed him in his arms.
"Yeah," Chan whispered into his best friend's hair. "And don't you dare forget it,"
"Thanks, Chan. For everything," Minho spoke with sincerity.
"You only need a little push sometimes. I've got you," Chan patted his back as they pulled away before pushing Minho to the door. "Now, go care!"
Minho laughed before exiting the store, hands in the pocket of his jeans as he made his way across the street. The pastry shop had become a lot more familiar as this was where Minho had to wait at the end of work for Jisung to round up. He even had his own little seat closer to the window. He'd become a household name around there.
"Minho-hyung, hey!" Changbin announced the older boy's presence from behind the counter, garnering Seungmin's attention as he looked to the direction his boyfriend stared at.
"Hi, Hyung!" Seungmin's voice was a lot less louder than his boyfriend's. They always had been an odd pair.
"Hey, guys. Is Jisung here by any chance?" He asked, straight to the point.
"Oh, no. He's been sick since Saturday so we've kept him under house arrest. Why?" Seungmin asked, although with the way he looked at Minho, he seemed to know the answer.
Although Minho felt uncomfortable under the younger boy's gaze, he still managed to answer. "Uh, no reason. Just forget I came," he turned to leave.
"Hyung!" Changbin shouted, a couple of eyes turned to them. "Could you do us a favour? We we're supposed to go give Jisung his medication later but it's a busy day and none of us can afford to leave right now. So we were wondering. . .could you do it for us? We'll owe you big time."
Minho stayed quiet as he eyed the pair suspiciously. He looked around the shop and it did seem to be a busy day. Besides, he was sure they would not ask him if they could go so he reluctantly agreed.
"Sure. I'm sure Chan won't mind," he shrugged.
"Sweet! Thanks so much, Hyung. Wait a second and I'll write down the prescription," Seungmin beamed and within a minute, Minho was on his way to Jisung's with the spare key Changbin had given him.
He'd crossed over to his workplace to inform Chan of the new arisings and he'd been given the day off since it was a slow day anyway, so in a way, something was working out for him.
All the way to Jisung's, he felt weird. Like his heart was beating faster and his hands were shaking. Now Minho was no intellectual but he could recognise signs when he saw them and he was well aware what the things he was feeling meant. Yet, he chose to ignore them and just focus on the task at hand.
Once at his destination, he didn't bother knocking and instead just stuck the key in the hole and made his way inside Jisung's small house. It was a very out of place house as it was in a commercial area and was basically a small cottage facing the road but Minho could not deny it was beautiful and felt very lived-in.
"If you're here to steal, I'm broke!" He heard a nasally voice call out. "But if you make me some soup and ask nicely, I could help out,"
Minho had to stifle a laugh as he gently shut the door behind him and quietly made his way to the source of the voice in the very spacey living room where he found Jisung sprawled on the couch with various used tissues surrounding him, along with a large blanket covering his entire body, with only his messy mop of hair sticking out. He was facing the large screen TV and was watching some show Minho had not seen before. His cheeks were puffy and his eyes appeared to be red from where Minho stood.
"I'm not here to steal," he declared with a chuckle. "Just wanted to give you medicine. But I can make you some soup if you want,"
Jisung's head snapped back so fast, he must've gotten whiplash. "Minho?"
"Great, so your eye sight's still in check. That's one less thing to worry about," Minho joked as he set down the bag of medicine on the table in front of Jisung.
Jisung turned red. "What're you doing here?" He stuttered.
"What does it look like? I’m here to take care of you, obviously," Minho rolled his eyes playfully.
"Yeah, but I thought Changbin or Seungmin were coming," Jisung clarified the intent of his question.
Minho paused his movement, the last medicine he was going to offload from the bag laying there in loneliness.
"Oh," he straightened. "I mean, they were busy so I — but if you don't want me here, then I mean—"
"No!" Jisung shouted, his nasally tone getting considerably worse. "That's not what I meant. I just wasn't expecting you to be here. Especially not with me looking like this,"
Minho cracked a smile and ran his fingers through his hair. "You don't need to get all dressed up for me, Jisung. I mean, it's just me. You don't need to impress me. I'm fine however you are,"
Jisung, after this confession, looked to be a mixture of shocked and flustered. And in all honesty, Minho didn't know where all of this was coming from but it was the truth so he didn't mind. Besides, showing people he cared was in no way embarrassing so he found solace in that fact.
"Anyway," Minho reached over to press a hand to Jisung's forehead. "You're burning up and covering yourself in a blanket is not going to help," he ripped the blanket from Jisung's body.
"But I'm cold!" Jisung's whined, wrapping his arms around his body and shivering.
"I know, baby. You'll feel better soon after you take your medicine and eat some noodle soup. But first, let me get a wet rag," Minho said. "Where's your bathroom?"
Jisung looked even redder then before and Minho was unsure if it was because of his sickness or something else. But Jisung was staring at him for a long time and he was unmoving so that was kind of frightening.
"Uh, Ji?" Minho waved a hand in front of the boy's face. "Bathroom?"
Jisung snapped out of his trance with a wince. "What? Oh, yeah. Third door on the left,"
"Great, just stay put and I'll be right back,"
It took a while but after wetting his body, giving him his medicine and soup, Jisung's body began to cool down considerably. Minho had also cleaned up and they were currently seated together and watching some drama Minho hardly cared for, yet it looked like Jisung was enjoying it so he decided to say nothing.
Minho's leg was sprawled on the table and Jisung's head rested on his shoulder. All that could be heard was the voice of people they hardly knew and the sound of their soft breathing. Jisung's hand slowly made its way to Minho's chest and began tracing indiscernible words and shapes and it was all so very domestic and beautiful.
"Thanks for taking care of me today, hyung," Jisung spoke softly. His voice was almost a whisper.
"Yeah? You should be thankful, I've probably gotten sick now," Minho joked, ruffling Jisung's hair fondly.
"I'll pay you back, I swear!" Jisung claimed, that nasally tone finally out of his voice. He looked and sounded much better. "I'll make you so many apple pies, you'll never be able to finish them,"
Minho offered a tight lipped smile. "Yay! Can't wait!"
"Me too!" Jisung giggled and clapped like a baby. Minho's baby.
As the night progressed and Minho eventually fell asleep, he finally came to a conclusion. He was tired of ignoring it. He was tired of acting like he didn't feel it every damn time he was in the boy's presence.
He liked Han Jisung and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do about it. And he was going to do everything to prove it.
Because as a friend once said, showing that he cared was in no way embarrassing.
apple in the morning, doctor’s warning.
“LEE Minho, you're allergic to apple!?" Were the first word Jisung said, or more or less screeched as soon he entered the flower shop that day.
"Oh, someone's in trouble," Chan sang while wiggling his brows.
"Shut up, Chan," Minho pushed the older boy away and walked to the front of the store to greet the source of the noise. "Hi, Jisung,"
"Don't you dare 'Hi, Jisung' me! You mean to tell me, I've been clowning myself and making you apple pie for the past four and a half months to show you my love and appreciation and you've been allergic this whole time!?"Jisung's shouting was disturbing the few customers so Chan rushed the troubled pair into the back room.
It was quiet for a while in the room. A sheepish Minho and a furious Jisung.
"So? Explain!" Jisung probed the younger boy.
"I'm sorry, alright? But in my defense, every time I tried to tell you, you always interrupted me with your little dad jokes, so in a way, this is all your fault," Minho shrugged innocently, plunging Jisung farther into anger.
"You — I — what? I. . .I can't believe you, you idiot," the younger boy shook his head excessively. "So what the hell have you been doing with all the pies?"
"Well, long story. . . uh, you see — Chan and Felix have been eating them," Minho scratched his head with a guilty smile.
"God," Jisung face palmed. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Forgive me?" Minho batted his lashes teasingly. "How did you find out anyway?"
"Felix came by earlier to get something for the get together he's hosting later today because apparently your friends Hyunjin and Jeongin are coming back from being overseas and he blurted it out," Jisung gave it away.
"He was never good with keeping secrets," Minho shook his head. "So about the get together, you and the guys will be coming, too, right? I want you to meet my friends,"
"Yeah, sure." Jisung nodded. "But you owe me, you know. For all my wasted effort,"
"Yeah, I know. Whatever I can do, I will," Minho even threw in a flirtatious wink just because he was sure it would get Jisung all flustered and timid for no other reason than Jisung was just a generally shy person. And it worked.
"Okay," Jisung flushed. "Anyway, I should go. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"
"Yeah. See you later,"
Throughout the day, all Minho could think about was seeing Jisung again. He'd gotten used to it after recognising his feelings almost three months ago. Now it'd been days of trying to show how he felt to a painfully oblivious Jisung who apparently thought Minho talking about giving him a hickey was just the older boy being nice but he'd decided that tonight, he was going to straighten things out once and for all.
And this thought never left his mind up until he was knocking of the door of Felix and Chan's apartment. Apparently he was the last to arrive as Jeongin, Hyunjin, Changbin and Seungmin were already there, along with Jisung who looked so utterly beautiful in just blue jeans and a pastel hoodie.
But it was an amazing evening. After spending six months abroad for studies, Hyunjin and Jeongin were finally moving back to Seoul permanently and everyone got along splendidly. It was hard to believe they were only stranger a few months ago. And that was all the push Minho needed to know that this was it, Jisung was right for him and he could only hope the boy would feel the same way.
So there they were, on the roof of Felix and Chan's house, staring at the stars while everyone below them seemed to be asleep. And Jisung was talking about the strangest of things while Minho looked at him like the ocean erupted in starry waves in his eyes.
He was so engrossed in this activity, he was absolutely zoned out to notice Jisung had stopped talking entirely and only stared back.
"Stop looking at me like that," Jisung murmured timidly.
Minho snapped out of his trance. "Like what?" He asked.
"I don't know," Jisung laughed and tried to play it cool. "Like I mean the whole world to you or something,"
Minho managed a brilliant smile. "And who said you didn't?"
For a second or so, Jisung froze before he attempted to laugh it off. "Okay, I walked right into that one,"
"I'm serious, though," Minho shook his head and sat up. He then grabbed Jisung's hand gently, causing the other boy to sit up as well. "I mean it, Jisung. You do mean the entire world to me,"
"Hyung, what are you saying—“
"I'm saying I like you, okay? And I have for a while. I'm saying I've realised burying my feelings for you won't make them go away and it'll only make me resent my cowardice in the long run. I'm saying—" Minho took as deep breath and closed his eyes before continuing with a new found determination. "I'm saying I want you, Han Jisung, to be my boyfriend. To let me take care of you whenever, love you and listen to your dad jokes even though they fucking hurt. I'm saying, I'm willing to eat your apple pie if it means you'll come by everyday. I'm saying my everything wants you,"
Jisung froze for a second but his wobbly lips was indication enough that he was still functioning. "Really? You mean it?" He stuttered.
"With everything in me, I do," Minho smiled softly at the boy in front of him, wiping a stray tear that had slipped past his eye.
"Then I, Han Jisung, would want nothing more than to be your boyfriend, hyung. My everything wants you, too," Jisung sobbed.
And the kiss immediately cued. A kiss of relief, affection and in the long run, maybe love. But not now. Now, it was just two boys under the watchful eyes of the moon and stars, kissing like they were each other's life line and staring at each other like they were the reason for existence. And that was only the beginning of their story.
Of one boy who was an ordinary baker. . . and another who was allergic to apple pie.