Six Degrees Of Separation (The Path From Me To You)
Title: Six Degrees Of Separation (The Path From Me To You)
Pairing: OT12 (KaiSoo, JunDae, BaekYeol, FanXing, HunHan, brat!Tao, almightyknowing!Xiumin)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Romance, horrible!Humor
Length: 6000w
Summary: Jongin thinks Kyungsoo has a boyfriend by the name of Joonmyun.
“And then when I asked him to get my coffee, he got it with 2% milk instead of skim milk! Ridiculous right?”
Kyungsoo’s left cheek twitches as he struggles to maintain the smile that he has had plastered on his face. How this guy managed to make ten minutes feel like ten hours is beyond him.
“Yeah…ridiculous,” he murmurs in an attempt to sound the least bit interested in whatever the male across the small table from him was saying.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he leans back in his chair and Kyungsoo resists a sudden urge to repeatedly pound his head against the tabletop.
Just as the man was about to open his mouth to speak again, a bell rings throughout the room, signaling a partner change. Kyungsoo’s shoulders visibly relax as the man grabs his coat and walks over to the next table.
“‘It’ll be fun, you’ll meet lots of great guys’,” he mutters as he glares down at the table and massages his cheeks, trying to get some feeling back into them, “Great guys my ass. I swear Joonmyun -”
“Joonmyun?”
Kyungsoo’s head snaps up and he quickly drops his hands into his lap when a boy sits down in front of him. Although he’s probably not making a good first impression, he can’t help but gape at the boy. Fitted striped sweater, mocha skin, chestnut hair that is swept against his forehead, and perfect almond eyes. Kyungsoo continued to stare at the gorgeous boy, not really caring that he probably just wasted a good minute of their time together.
“I’m Jongin,” the boy smiles and hold out a hand over the table, his eyes turning into half moons and Kyungsoo just wants to curl into a ball and weep because no one should ever be that cute.
“Kyungsoo,” he replies and slowly slips his hand into Jongin’s.
Kyungsoo bites his lips as he returns his hand back to his lap, still feeling the warmth of Jongin’s hand on his palm.
“So, I hope he’s not your boyfriend,” Jongin says suddenly.
“Who?” Kyungsoo asks rather dumbly.
“This Joonmyun that you were muttering to yourself about?” Jongin’s lips dip slightly downward, “He’s not your boyfriend … Is he?”
“Oh!” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, “Oh god no! He’s like an older brother to me. Joonmyun? And me? Together? That’s just - Ugh, that’s just disturbing to think about.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Jongin sighs, “I might have been a little jealous if I heard that he was.”
Kyungsoo blinks a few times and stares at Jongin.
“E-excuse me?”
Jongin glances up and send him a grin, “Nothing,” he shakes his head and leans his elbows on top of the table, “But tell me about Joonmyun.”
“Why?” Kyungsoo asks.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “You seem pretty upset at him. I’m just wondering why.”
Kyungsoo hesitates for a second before replying, “It’s kind of a long story.”
Jongin glances over at the giant clock at the head of the room.
“Six minutes,” he notes and gives Kyungsoo a smile, “We have time.”
« two weeks earlier «
“So I’ve been thinking,” Joonmyun says.
“Well, that’s never a good thing,” Kyungsoo interjects and he stabs a few pieces of penne pasta with this fork.
Joonmyun glares at him from across the table, “The sass is not appreciated.”
Kyungsoo merely shrugs and continues to eat his lunch.
“Anyways,” the elder says pointedly with a tired sigh, “I think it’s about time you get yourself a boyfriend.”
Kyungsoo freezes, a fork of pasta halfway from his bowl to his mouth as he looks up at Joonmyun and blinks a few times.
“I don’t need a boyfriend,” he says flatly and shoves the pasta into his mouth.
“Yes you do,” Joonmyun argues back.
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes. You do,” Joonmyun insists, “You’re always alone in your apartment, watching The Big Bang Theory and eating gallons of ice cream in the dark.”
“I don’t eat ice cream alone in the dark,” Kyungsoo scoffs, “And there’s nothing wrong with Big Bang Theory. That show’s hilarious.”
Joonmyun rolls his eyes, “I still think you need to get out more. So I got this for you.”
Kyungsoo silently watches him reach into a pocket of his coat that is slung over the back of his chair and pull out a pastel pink sheet of paper that’s folded into the quarters. Kyungsoo takes the paper from his friend and unfolds it. His hands drop to his sides and he glares at Joonmyun, ‘Are you serious’ blatantly written across his face.
“Speed dating?” Kyungsoo holds up the flyer, “Really?”
“Yeah, I even have extras if you lose that one,” Joonmyun pulls out a few more from under the table.
“I think I’m good,” he mumbles and makes a move to hand the sheet of paper back to his friend.
“No keep it so you can go. It’s fun!” Joonmyun smiles.
“You can’t be serious,” he shakes his head as he reads the text printed on the flyer.
“I am being serious. And you can meet some … pretty great guys.”
Kyungsoo looks up and raises an eyebrow, “Why is your face all red?”
Joonmyun’s eyes widen and he adverts his eyes to the ground.
The younger boy narrows his eyes suspiciously, “Did you meet someone-?”
“No, it’s nothing, never mind about me,” he cut him off quickly, clearing his throat awkwardly and ignoring Kyungsoo’s unconvinced gaze, “You should go. It’s only for a few hours and you don’t have to be looking for a relationship. You can just make friends at these things too.”
“I have a lot of friends, thank you very much,” he mumbles as he reads the location and time.
“Yes, I know you do, Soo,” Joonmyun says softly, “But just promise me that you’ll go. Just this once?”
Kyungsoo hesitates and takes warily glances between the paper in his hand and his friend across the table. He’s never been good at talking to strangers. The only time he ever has were the times when Joonmyun would drag him to clubs with the excuse that “he needed a wingman”.
“Please?” Joonmyun flashes him a smile, “For me?”
Kyungsoo sighs and chooses to ignore his better judgment, “Fine.”
Joonmyun beams.
“But only,” the younger quickly adds and his expression dims slightly, “If you give those flyers to that guy over there.”
Kyungsoo points across the room to a boy sitting at a table by himself with his laptop.
“Okay,” Joonmyun says with ease and pushes his chair back.
Kyungsoo watches him walk up to the boy and after a few exchanged words, hands him the flyer. His jaw drops when the boy nods his head and places the bright pink paper next to his laptop. Joonmyun skips back to their table with a smirk and Kyungsoo sends him a glare before bitterly impaling his poor, unexpecting pasta with his fork.
» five days later »
Xiumin walks around the small cake-decorating cafe, apron tied around his waist and a wire basket hanging on his arm. He weaves through the aisles of embellishments, placing a freshly made batch of fondant roses on the table of flowers and organizing boxes of wax candles on shelves. He hums and bobs his head to the song that playing softly on the overhead stereo as he approaches a buffet of sprinkles. He unscrews to lid of a container of pink lace edible pearls and carefully lifts the jar out of his basket. He slowly tilts the jar over a giant bowl to make sure that none of the pearls escape the rim of the bowl. But a sudden voice behind him makes him flinch and a few light pink spheres bounce off the edge of the bowl and roll across the tile flooring.
“What’s up, buttercup?”
Xiumin doesn’t even bother glancing up to see the expected smug and mocking expression that seems to be eternally etched onto Jongdae’s face and continues to focus on pouring, mentally noting to find the pink escapees before a customer slips and they’re café gets threatened with another law suit.
“If you’re here just to eat the cake samples again, I suggest you leave now,” he mumbles as he pours the last of the pearls into the bowl and places the glass jar back into his basket.
Jongdae fakes a gasp, placing his hand to his chest with a faux look of shock. Xiumin promptly rolls his eyes and walks off to a different part of the store he needs to restock.
“How could you automatically assume such blasphemy?!” Jongdae says dramatically as he follows Xiumin, “Here I am, coming to visit my long time friend and you accuse me of thieving cake? What kind of person do you take me for?”
“Okay, one, we’ve known each other for, like, a year. I can hardly say that’s a ‘long time’,” Xiumin shoots Jongdae a look, “And two, I can accuse of you eating cake samples because that is literally all you do when you come here.”
“That’s not true,” Jongdae denies.
“Yes. It is,” Xiumin blinks, “Remember last time, when you ate so much red velvet samples that you almost -”
“Oh, okay that was once,” Jongdae cuts him off with a wave of a hand, “But I have a real reason to be here this time.”
“Like what? You want to decorate a cake?” Xiumin raises an eyebrow and lets out a short laugh.
“Yes, actually,” Jongdae nods, “I do.”
Xiumin stares at the younger boy for a few minutes before bursting into a fit of laughter that has him nearly in tears.
“You’re joking, right?” he asks between gasps of breath.
“No,” Jongdae responds with a solemn expression, “I actually want to decorate a cake.”
Xiumin quickly sobers when he notices the seriousness in his friend’s voice.
“Wow, you really aren’t joking,” he says softly.
Jongdae shakes his head as he stares down at his shoes. He purses his lips and he absentmindedly swings his leg back and forth, the sole of his worn out Vans scuffing against the tile.
“Can I ask who this cake is for?” Xiumin asks as they both walk to an empty decorating table, “And you better not say for yourself.”
“It’s not for me!” the boy scoffs as they sit, “It’s for someone … I met.”
“Oh?” Xiumin eyes light up with interest as he places his basket on the table, “Who is this person? C’mon now. Spill.”
“His name is Joonmyun,” Jongdae mumbles as he draws swirls on a pad of planning paper with a pencil. Xiumin doesn’t fail to notice how his cheeks are turning slightly red.
“Where did you guys meet?” Xiumin questions.
“Okay, don’t laugh, but we met at one of those speed dating things.”
Xiumin’s first reaction was to indeed laugh. But when he saw how Jongdae, haughty, pretentious, little shit Jongdae, duck his head and shyly bite his lip he decides to be the good friend that he is and clamp his lips together and nod.
“That’s interesting.”
“But he invited me over to his apartment for dinner and I think that it’s our first date but I’m not really sure but I don’t want to go empty handed so that’s why I’m here and I want to decorate a cake,” Jongdae says quickly and all in one breath.
Xiumin smiles softly his anxious friend. He’ll never admit it out loud, but it was rather nice seeing this side of Jongdae. It made Jongdae seem almost human.
“I can tell you really like him.”
“Well, yeah I guess,” Jongdae shrugs, smiling slightly to himself.
But the bashful Jongdae leaves as quickly as he came and in a blink of an eye, sitting in front of Xiumin, is the (quite irritating) Jongdae that he had come to love (somewhat).
“But, anyways,” Jongdae smirks as he places his feet on the table, almost knocking Xiumin’s basket and all the decorations inside to the floor, “this cake has to kick ass. I have to make Joonmyun think, ‘Wow, not only does Jongdae have devilish good looks and charm, but he has an artistic side as well.’ I want him to think of me as the Picasso of Pastries or the Da Vinci of Decorating, you know what I mean?”
“Da Vinci, huh?” Xiumin raises an unamused eyebrow.
Jongdae nods smugly.
“Okay then Leonardo, what color fondant are you going to use?” Xiumin asks offhandedly as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“What’s fondant?” Jongdae stares back blankly, “Is that the cheese thing people dip fruit in?”
Xiumin rolls his eyes and tiredly shakes his head before grabbing his basket.
“That’s fondue and I advise you learn the basic tools of cake decorating before you even think about impressing anyone, especially someone that you like,” he throws over his shoulder as he retreats back towards the shelves, leaving a very confused Jongdae staring after him.
» four hours later »
Chanyeol’s life is over.
He wishes a hole would form under his feet so he could fall into an infinite abyss and escape this horrible, cruel chunk of rock we call Earth. Hell, even if the hole opened up two blocks from his apartment, he would gladly run down the five flights of stairs, down the sidewalk, avoid the fire hydrant that he nearly trips over every day on his way to class, and jump right on in. But since he figures no pits of nothingness or black holes will be opening up in Seoul anytime soon, he opts for moping his apartment because it’s basically the same thing.
So that’s how Xiumin finds his roommate, facedown on their sofa, gangly limbs sprawled all over the place, when he comes home from work one day. He’s tired, his feet hurt from standing all day, a major headache is pounding at the back of his head (because of an excessive amount of frustration caused by a certain “costumer” by the name of Kim freaking Jongdae), and, perhaps most importantly, he’s starving. Being around dozens of cakes and sugary sweets does that to a guy.
“Do I even want to ask?” he calls out as he walks into the kitchen and rummages in their practically empty refrigerator.
A mumbled response comes from the living room.
“What did you say?” Xiumin asks over his shoulder as he shakes a carton of orange juice and hears a faint sloshing.
More, but slightly louder, mumbles and grumbles float from the living into the kitchen.
“Dude, I can’t hear you,” Xiumin chucks the empty juice carton into the trashcan and settles from an apple that’s sitting in the basket on their counter.
“I said,” Chanyeol abruptly lifts his head up, “my life is over.” He then proceeds to quickly drop his head back down onto the upholstery.
“And why is your life over?” Xiumin asks halfheartedly as he examines his apple.
“Baekhyun doesn’t love me!” Chanyeol wails and thrashes around so dramatically that he ends up falling off of the couch.
Xiumin walks into the living room and jumps onto the now vacant couch. He takes a bite of his apple and stares down at Chanyeol as he sits up with a groan and rubs his back.
“And how do you know that the little puppy doesn’t love you? It’s not like you ever really talked to him before.”
“I talk to him!” Chanyeol bites back.
“Asking him if the seat next to him is free doesn’t count as talking,” Xiumin says and Chanyeol’s shoulders sag slightly.
“I ask him about class assignments too,” the taller boys mumbles with a small pout.
Xiumin rolls his eyes and takes another bite out of his apple, “But really, how do you know that Byun Baekhyun doesn’t love you?”
Chanyeol flops onto his back and stretches his arms over his head, “Because he hates me.”
“Bullshit,” the elder dismisses, “We both know that that kid is not capable of hating anything. So what did he really do?”
Chanyeol heaves a sigh and crosses his hands behind his head.
“I saw him hugging a panda looking kid after our music history class.”
“Okay… And?”
He looks up at Xiumin and blinks, “And that’s it.”
Xiumin fights back the desire to beam Chanyeol in the head with his apple core.
“That doesn’t mean anything! Hugging doesn’t mean anything!”
“You didn’t see that hug!” Chanyeol shouts back, “That was no ordinary hug!”
“Do you know that?!” Xiumin knows he’s already way past his boiling point, “No, you don’t because you’re always too scared to talk to him!”
“It’s scary, okay?! I don’t want to get rejected!” Chanyeol screams, eyes shining.
Xiumin can feel his temper start to simmer down when he sees his friend nearly in tears and guilt quickly replaces his frustration.
“Hey, I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Xiumin says softly, “It’s just, you don’t see how Baekhyun looks at you when you’re sitting next to each other in class.”
“He looks at me?” Chanyeol asks in a small voice.
He nods, “All the time. He always looks like he wants to talk to you but he always looks back down at his notebook whenever you look up at him.”
“Really?” Chanyeol’s eyes widen like a kid’s who was told that Christmas was coming early.
Xiumin laughs and nods again.
“Wow,” Chanyeol breathes, a small spark in his eye.
“Where are you going?” Xiumin asks when Chanyeol stands up and runs towards the door.
“I’m going to talk to Baekhyun,” he beams back as he grabs his jacket and keys, “It’s Wednesday, so he’s probably getting coffee at the Coffee Bean across the street from campus. I’ll see you later!”
Before Xiumin can even bid him goodbye, the door closes and he’s left alone in the quiet apartment. He purses his lips and looks around. He looks down when his stomach whines.
“Don’t worry. Daddy will find something for you,” he says, rubbing circles on his empty belly as he walks back into the kitchen.
« thirty minutes earlier «
“One Americano and a chocolate croissant,” Baekhyun smiles as he places the plate and cup of coffee in front of Tao.
“How did you know I like chocolate croissants?” Tao asks, eyes wide like a five year old.
“Because I know you, that’s how,” he smiles and ruffles the younger’s hair before sitting down.
“Don’t do that!” Tao whines as he hastily smooths his hair back into place, “I always tell you hate it when you do that.”
“I know,” Baekhyun chuckles before taking a sip of his latte.
“Then why do you keep doing it?”
“Because you’re reaction gets better and better every time,” he shrugs.
Tao scowls, to which Baekhyun can’t help but laugh at, and takes a harsh bite out of his croissant, smearing melted chocolate all over his lips and chin. Baekhyun shakes his head and reaches over to wipe his face with a napkin, doting on the younger like he always does.
“Thanks,” Tao mumbles, cheeks full of pastry.
“No prob,” Baekhyun smiles, “So how have you been?”
“Pretty good I guess. Just been studying, hanging out with friends, nothing much. What about you?”
“Same. All the work from class has been taking over my life,” Baekhyun sighs.
Tao absentmindedly gnaws on his straw, “Met anyone interesting lately?”
Just as Baekhyun is about to answer, the bell above the door to the coffee shop cuts him off. They both turn towards the entrance and see a tall boy on the lankier side standing in the doorway, peering around the small café. His eyes quickly sweep across the room and light up slightly when they land on their table.
Tao turns towards the boy sitting across from him when he hears a small gasp.
“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whispers as the boy storms over to their table.
“Chanyeol?” Tao raises an eyebrow but gets ignored as Baekhyun sits up straight in his chair and hastily dusts non-existent crumbs off of his shirt.
“Hey, Chanyeol,” he smiles and gives the boy a small wave (Tao almost laughs out loud at his awkwardness), “What are you doing here?”
Chanyeol had it completely figured out, he even planned a small speech on the walk over the coffee shop. But his gaze falls on the panda eyed boy sitting across from Baekhyun, his mind completely blanks, his speech flying out the window with all of his resolve. A sudden warmth creeps up his neck when the smaller boy blinks up at him and tips his head slightly to the side in wonder. And all that leaves Chanyeol’s mouth is a garbled mess.
Baekhyun squints his eyes as he tries to decipher the noise that just left Chanyeol’s mouth as the latter stares intently at the ground, his face at least three shades pinker than it was when he first entered.
Tao glances between his the two boys, a smirk forming on his face. He abruptly stands up and takes an exaggerated glance at his watch, “I better get going if I want to make it time for my tutoring session.”
Baekhyun looks up at him as he slings his bag over his shoulder, “You have a tutor? Why? You’re a straight-A student.”
“I have nothing better to do after school and he’s hot,” Tao shrugs and sends Baekhyun a not so discreet wink, “But thanks anyways for the pastries, hyung. You’re the best cousin ever!”
Chanyeol’s jaw literally drops as Baekhyun smiles and waves with a “we should do this again” as Tao exits the coffee shop.
Baekhyun turns towards Chanyeol and flinches slightly when he finds the giant staring rather intensely down at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“Is something wrong?” he asks slowly.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was your cousin?!” Chanyeol explodes.
A few people look over at their table and Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol down onto the chair that Tao had vacated.
“What does it matter?” he whispers harshly.
Chanyeol heaves a sigh and scratches the back of his head, “Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“No, tell me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me why!”
“Fine! Because I like you!” the words start to tumble out of Chanyeol’s mouth, “And I saw you hugging him and I thought that he was your boyfriend so I got jealous but turns out, he’s your cousin and Xiumin was right and I got jealous over nothing!”
Ripples form on the surface of Baekhyun’s abandoned latte when Chanyeol slams his head down on the table.
Baekhyun blinks at Chanyeol as he rolls his head onto its side, a bright red splotch dead center on his forehead.
But when Baekhyun reaches out and gently pats him on the head, his forehead is no longer the only thing that’s bright red.
» three days later »
Wufan is in the middle of pouring water into two glass cups when the doorbell rings. Less than two seconds later, it rings again. And, again. And, again. He slams the pitcher on the counter and sends a glare over his shoulder before stalking over to the door and throwing it open.
Tao looks up at him, finger paused over the doorbell.
“What do you want?” Wufan mutters at the younger boy, “It’s Saturday and I already had to babysit you once this week.”
Tao rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, “I have a test on Monday.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Wufan sighs and leans lazily against the door jam, “Just like you do on all of your other tests.”
“But you’re my tutor. You’re supposed to help me,” Tao rebuttals, “and I need your help now.”
“We both know you don’t.”
“Please,” he whines.
“No.”
“Please.”
The elder sighs and begins to push the door close, “Goodbye, Tao.”
“I’ll pay you double!”
Wufan’s hand pauses for a moment and he looks up to see Tao raising his eyebrows in anticipation even though he already knows what his answer is going to be. He’s a college student, enough said.
He barely manages to get out an “Ugh, fine” before Tao pushes the door open again and steps into his house.
He ruffles the back of his hair as the younger takes of his shoes. Wufan gives him a questioning look when he stands up and his eyes rake over his form.
“Nice outfit,” Tao says a little too suggestively as he passes.
Wufan is left standing next to the front door, staring after him. He looks down at his sweatpants and loose tank top before rolling his eyes and following Tao into the kitchen.
He pauses in the doorway when he sees Tao leaning against the counter and brining a glass of water up to his lips.
“Hey, that’s not for you,” he says as he snatches the glass out of Tao’s hand.
“Then who’s it for?” Tao questions.
“It’s mine,” Wufan replies and takes a sip.
“Well, who’s the other one for?” Tao points to the other glass of water that’s sitting on the counter.
Wufan feels a sudden warmth crawl up his neck, “Uhhhh…”
Tao raises his an eyebrow at him.
“It’s mine too,” Wufan blurts out and takes the second glass in his free hand, taking a sip from that glass as well, “They’re both for me. I’m really thirsty, okay? Just go sit over there and do whatever.”
Tao gives his tutor a strange look before walking over to the kitchen table.
“Damn, what’s up your ass?” Tao grumbles as he takes his practice test out of his bag.
“Nothing’s up my ass!” Wufan snaps back a little too quickly, “Nothing will ever be up my ass. What kind of person do -”
“Hey Wufan,” a tired voice calls, “I just asked you to get me some water. What’s taking so long?”
Wufan and Tao’s heads snap towards the direction of the voice. Wufan’s face immediately flushes ten shades of embarrassment as Tao battles down the urge to explode into laughter at the scene in front of him.
Yixing stands in the doorway of the kitchen, sleepily scratching one eye as he lets out a small yawn. His chocolate hair is sticking up in different angles and a shirt that is at least two sizes to big for him (and obviously not his) hangs lopsidedly on his shoulders.
“Yixing!” Wufan stares at smaller boy in shock, “W-What are you doing out of bed?”
“I was thirsty,” he responds. He pads across the tile flooring, eyes still half closed, and wraps his arms around Wufan’s waist, resting his head against elder’s chest.
Tao almost loses it when he sees the mortified look on his tutor’s face. But amusement is quickly replaced by nausea when stunned wide eyes turn into endearing half moons and Wufan wraps his arms around Yixing, slightly swaying the both of them side to side. He dramatically double overs in his chair, his faux gagging going unnoticed by the couple standing a few feet away.
“Here,” Wufan says softly and picks up one of the glasses of water, “Go wait upstairs for me. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Yixing holds the glass between both of his hands and nods, flashing his dimples up at Wufan before turning on his heels. It isn’t until he’s halfway across the kitchen that he glances to his side and he notices Tao sitting at the kitchen table, his face molded into a disgusted grimace.
“Oh, hey Tao,” he grins.
The two silently watch Yixing leave the kitchen. Wufan lets out a sigh and leans against the counter with a content smile. But the corners of his lips dip into a frown when he looks over and sees Tao smirking at him with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“So. Nothing up your ass, huh?”
« one day earlier «
Luhan glares down at his phone screen as he drags his feet across the carpet into the bedroom. He flings himself onto the bed next to Sehun who’s editing a term paper that’s due the next morning. He stares up at the boy with intent as he tries to send him a telepathic message to pay attention to him. But Sehun continues to focus on his laptop, eyes moving across the screen and fingers flying over the keyboard every now and then.
Luhan huffs and rolls onto his stomach. He lets out an exaggerated groan, one that pretty much screams, “Pay attention to me!” in Sehun’s face.
“What do you want?” the younger asks dully, eyes still on his computer screen.
“Why isn’t Yixing answering my calls?” Luhan asks with his face still pressed into the comforter.
“He’s with someone.”
Luhan rolls onto his side again and stare up at Sehun in confusion.
“Now? It’s like,” he checks the time on his phone, “almost midnight.”
Sehun glances away from his essay for the first time since Luhan walked into the room and gives him a look.
Realization flashes across Luhan’s face and he slowly puts down his phone.
“Oh,” he mouths.
Sehun smirks and turns back to his word document.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” the older mumbles as he stares up at the ceiling.
“Because it’s something private for him and you are incapable of keeping your mouth shut.”
“I am not!” Luhan huffs, “I am totally capable of keeping secrets. Like, I didn’t tell you or Yixing that Jongin’s never been on a date in over three months.”
“Well now you did,” Sehun rolls his eyes, “See, incapable.”
“Ugh, whatever,” Luhan waves his hand aloofly, “You were bound to find out eventually.”
Sehun scoffs and sends an incredulous look at his boyfriend as something on the bedside table catches the doe eyed boy’s attention.
“What’s this?”
Luhan crawls across the bed and picks up the pink paper.
Sehun shrugs as he saves his word document and closes his laptop. He’s already accepted the fact that he’s never going to be able to finish his essay with Luhan pestering him.
“I don’t know. Some guy gave it to me.”
“Speed dating?” he raises his eyebrows as he reads the words printed on the flyer, “Do you really look that sad and lonely when you’re not with me?”
“No I don’t, shut up,” Sehun mutters as he flops onto his back.
Luhan chuckles softly but continues to read black type printed across the contrasting pink paper.
“And you can throw that away when you’re done looking at it,” Sehun continues, “Neither of us obviously have a need for speed dating.”
“You know, I think I might keep it.”
Sehun sits up suddenly, “Why? You already have me. You don’t need it.”
“Yeah, I know,” Luhan says as he folds up the flyer and flings it towards his backpack, “But I know someone who does.”
» two days later »
“So whatcha doing this weekend?” Luhan asks as he sits cross-legged on the wooden floor of the dance studio, a bottle of water in one hand and a towel in the other.
Jongin shrugs as he snags the bottle from the elder’s hand and takes a sip, “I’m not sure yet.”
“Do you want come with me and Sehun to the club?”
“And be an awkward third wheel again?” Jongin lets out a humorless laugh, “I don’t think so. But thanks anyway.”
“So … you don’t have any plans then?” Luhan asks.
Jongin notices the small glint in his eye, “No,” he answers slowly.
“Great!” Luhan jumps to his feet and scuttles over to his duffle bag.
Jongin watches Luhan sift around in his bag. He returns to his side, holding something behind his back.
“So I have a surprise for you,” Luhan smiles.
“Oh great. Is it anything like your last surprise for me?” the younger mutters, shuddering at the memory.
Without getting into detail, let’s just say that the last time Luhan had “a surprise” for Jongin, The latter ended up in the shower for over two hours, washing honey and sequences out of his hair.
Luhan pouts a little, “It’s a good surprise this time, I promise. Or, well, it doesn’t involve anything sticky.”
“Fine,” Jongin sighs after a moment of hesitation, “What is it?”
“Ta-dah!!!” Luhan beams and pulls out a pink flyer from behind his back.
“Speed dating?” Jongin raises an eyebrow, “No. No way.”
“Aw come on! It’ll be fun!”
“No,” he shakes his head again, “I don’t need a speed dating service to get me a date.”
“You haven’t been on a date in over three months so obviously you do,” Luhan points out.
“Hey!” Jongin quickly throws a hand over Luhan’s mouth and looks warily around the studio, “Don’t say that so loud, everyone could hear.”
Luhan throws the younger hand off his face and rolls his eyes, “Whatever, they already know anyways.”
“What?” Jongin asks in confusion.
“Oh, nothing, never mind,” Luhan waves his question off, “Can you just please go?”
“No,” Jongin responds curtly.
“Please?”
Jongin shakes his head.
“Pretty please? For me?” Luhan bats his eyes innocently.
“Luhan,” Jongin whines.
“Why not?” the elder huffs, “I hear you can meet some pretty nice guys at these things.”
“I don’t want to,” Jongin mumbles.
Luhan sighs and places a hand on Jongin’s shoulder as the younger plays with the laces on his shoes.
“Listen, I know you’re shy Jongin. I’ve never really understood why because you’re so confident on stage and with you’re looks you shouldn’t be shy. I mean everyone thinks you’re hot and stuff, like I even catch our instructor checking you out sometimes…But that’s beside the point!” Luhan shakes his head as he cuts off his own ramble, “What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to worry about putting yourself out there or approaching anyone because they pretty much approach you. I mean, they literally sit across from you and talk.”
Jongin doesn’t reply and continues to trace invisible designs on the wood flooring.
Luhan sets his lips into a firm line and places the flyer onto Jongin’s knee.
“Just think about it, okay? It can’t hurt to try and you might even end up meeting someone special.”
Jongin looks up and Luhan gives him an encouraging grin.
“Okay,” Jongin says softly, “I’ll think about it.”
» two days later »
“So you’re only here because you’re friend Joonmyun forced you?”
“Kind of,” Kyungsoo shrugs, “he even gave me this flyer.”
Kyungsoo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pink flyer for the event. He sends a questioning look Jongin’s way when he starts to chuckle.
“Well, looks like we have something in common,” Jongin laughs and pull out an identical flyer from his pocket as well.
Kyungsoo’s lips form into a heart shaped smile. Jongin’s eyes turn into crescents once again when a melodious laugh escapes Kyungsoo’s lips and fills his soul.
Somewhere between the ramblings and thoughtful lip bites, among the exaggerated hand gestures and fits of giggles, Jongin finds himself on a one-way train headed towards Kyungsoo’s heart.
A bell rings and Kyungsoo’s smile turns into a frown. People sitting around them stand up and start to shift tables but Jongin makes no move to leave.
“Hey, do you want to get out of here?” Jongin asks quietly.
Kyungsoo blinks at him in surprise before nodding.
A bust of night air hits their faces when they step onto the sidewalk.
“So where did you get the flyer from?” Kyungsoo asks as he and Jongin walk down the street, hands in their coat pockets and huddled close.
“My friend's boyfriend,” Jongin replies, “He said that some guy gave it to him when he was eating in some pasta restaurant.”
~~~
The Six Degrees concept is the theory that everyone in the world is connected by a maximum of six people. The only challenge is finding the perfect combination of people and, somehow, we did.
---
A/N: Finally got this one done. Inspired by the film Six Degrees of Separation that I had to watch for one of my film classes. And once again, thanks to Tina and Mikela for all of your help!
Pairing: OT12 (KaiSoo, JunDae, BaekYeol, FanXing, HunHan, brat!Tao, almightyknowing!Xiumin)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Romance, horrible!Humor
Length: 6000w
Summary: Jongin thinks Kyungsoo has a boyfriend by the name of Joonmyun.
“And then when I asked him to get my coffee, he got it with 2% milk instead of skim milk! Ridiculous right?”
Kyungsoo’s left cheek twitches as he struggles to maintain the smile that he has had plastered on his face. How this guy managed to make ten minutes feel like ten hours is beyond him.
“Yeah…ridiculous,” he murmurs in an attempt to sound the least bit interested in whatever the male across the small table from him was saying.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he leans back in his chair and Kyungsoo resists a sudden urge to repeatedly pound his head against the tabletop.
Just as the man was about to open his mouth to speak again, a bell rings throughout the room, signaling a partner change. Kyungsoo’s shoulders visibly relax as the man grabs his coat and walks over to the next table.
“‘It’ll be fun, you’ll meet lots of great guys’,” he mutters as he glares down at the table and massages his cheeks, trying to get some feeling back into them, “Great guys my ass. I swear Joonmyun -”
“Joonmyun?”
Kyungsoo’s head snaps up and he quickly drops his hands into his lap when a boy sits down in front of him. Although he’s probably not making a good first impression, he can’t help but gape at the boy. Fitted striped sweater, mocha skin, chestnut hair that is swept against his forehead, and perfect almond eyes. Kyungsoo continued to stare at the gorgeous boy, not really caring that he probably just wasted a good minute of their time together.
“I’m Jongin,” the boy smiles and hold out a hand over the table, his eyes turning into half moons and Kyungsoo just wants to curl into a ball and weep because no one should ever be that cute.
“Kyungsoo,” he replies and slowly slips his hand into Jongin’s.
Kyungsoo bites his lips as he returns his hand back to his lap, still feeling the warmth of Jongin’s hand on his palm.
“So, I hope he’s not your boyfriend,” Jongin says suddenly.
“Who?” Kyungsoo asks rather dumbly.
“This Joonmyun that you were muttering to yourself about?” Jongin’s lips dip slightly downward, “He’s not your boyfriend … Is he?”
“Oh!” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, “Oh god no! He’s like an older brother to me. Joonmyun? And me? Together? That’s just - Ugh, that’s just disturbing to think about.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Jongin sighs, “I might have been a little jealous if I heard that he was.”
Kyungsoo blinks a few times and stares at Jongin.
“E-excuse me?”
Jongin glances up and send him a grin, “Nothing,” he shakes his head and leans his elbows on top of the table, “But tell me about Joonmyun.”
“Why?” Kyungsoo asks.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “You seem pretty upset at him. I’m just wondering why.”
Kyungsoo hesitates for a second before replying, “It’s kind of a long story.”
Jongin glances over at the giant clock at the head of the room.
“Six minutes,” he notes and gives Kyungsoo a smile, “We have time.”
« two weeks earlier «
“So I’ve been thinking,” Joonmyun says.
“Well, that’s never a good thing,” Kyungsoo interjects and he stabs a few pieces of penne pasta with this fork.
Joonmyun glares at him from across the table, “The sass is not appreciated.”
Kyungsoo merely shrugs and continues to eat his lunch.
“Anyways,” the elder says pointedly with a tired sigh, “I think it’s about time you get yourself a boyfriend.”
Kyungsoo freezes, a fork of pasta halfway from his bowl to his mouth as he looks up at Joonmyun and blinks a few times.
“I don’t need a boyfriend,” he says flatly and shoves the pasta into his mouth.
“Yes you do,” Joonmyun argues back.
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes. You do,” Joonmyun insists, “You’re always alone in your apartment, watching The Big Bang Theory and eating gallons of ice cream in the dark.”
“I don’t eat ice cream alone in the dark,” Kyungsoo scoffs, “And there’s nothing wrong with Big Bang Theory. That show’s hilarious.”
Joonmyun rolls his eyes, “I still think you need to get out more. So I got this for you.”
Kyungsoo silently watches him reach into a pocket of his coat that is slung over the back of his chair and pull out a pastel pink sheet of paper that’s folded into the quarters. Kyungsoo takes the paper from his friend and unfolds it. His hands drop to his sides and he glares at Joonmyun, ‘Are you serious’ blatantly written across his face.
“Speed dating?” Kyungsoo holds up the flyer, “Really?”
“Yeah, I even have extras if you lose that one,” Joonmyun pulls out a few more from under the table.
“I think I’m good,” he mumbles and makes a move to hand the sheet of paper back to his friend.
“No keep it so you can go. It’s fun!” Joonmyun smiles.
“You can’t be serious,” he shakes his head as he reads the text printed on the flyer.
“I am being serious. And you can meet some … pretty great guys.”
Kyungsoo looks up and raises an eyebrow, “Why is your face all red?”
Joonmyun’s eyes widen and he adverts his eyes to the ground.
The younger boy narrows his eyes suspiciously, “Did you meet someone-?”
“No, it’s nothing, never mind about me,” he cut him off quickly, clearing his throat awkwardly and ignoring Kyungsoo’s unconvinced gaze, “You should go. It’s only for a few hours and you don’t have to be looking for a relationship. You can just make friends at these things too.”
“I have a lot of friends, thank you very much,” he mumbles as he reads the location and time.
“Yes, I know you do, Soo,” Joonmyun says softly, “But just promise me that you’ll go. Just this once?”
Kyungsoo hesitates and takes warily glances between the paper in his hand and his friend across the table. He’s never been good at talking to strangers. The only time he ever has were the times when Joonmyun would drag him to clubs with the excuse that “he needed a wingman”.
“Please?” Joonmyun flashes him a smile, “For me?”
Kyungsoo sighs and chooses to ignore his better judgment, “Fine.”
Joonmyun beams.
“But only,” the younger quickly adds and his expression dims slightly, “If you give those flyers to that guy over there.”
Kyungsoo points across the room to a boy sitting at a table by himself with his laptop.
“Okay,” Joonmyun says with ease and pushes his chair back.
Kyungsoo watches him walk up to the boy and after a few exchanged words, hands him the flyer. His jaw drops when the boy nods his head and places the bright pink paper next to his laptop. Joonmyun skips back to their table with a smirk and Kyungsoo sends him a glare before bitterly impaling his poor, unexpecting pasta with his fork.
» five days later »
Xiumin walks around the small cake-decorating cafe, apron tied around his waist and a wire basket hanging on his arm. He weaves through the aisles of embellishments, placing a freshly made batch of fondant roses on the table of flowers and organizing boxes of wax candles on shelves. He hums and bobs his head to the song that playing softly on the overhead stereo as he approaches a buffet of sprinkles. He unscrews to lid of a container of pink lace edible pearls and carefully lifts the jar out of his basket. He slowly tilts the jar over a giant bowl to make sure that none of the pearls escape the rim of the bowl. But a sudden voice behind him makes him flinch and a few light pink spheres bounce off the edge of the bowl and roll across the tile flooring.
“What’s up, buttercup?”
Xiumin doesn’t even bother glancing up to see the expected smug and mocking expression that seems to be eternally etched onto Jongdae’s face and continues to focus on pouring, mentally noting to find the pink escapees before a customer slips and they’re café gets threatened with another law suit.
“If you’re here just to eat the cake samples again, I suggest you leave now,” he mumbles as he pours the last of the pearls into the bowl and places the glass jar back into his basket.
Jongdae fakes a gasp, placing his hand to his chest with a faux look of shock. Xiumin promptly rolls his eyes and walks off to a different part of the store he needs to restock.
“How could you automatically assume such blasphemy?!” Jongdae says dramatically as he follows Xiumin, “Here I am, coming to visit my long time friend and you accuse me of thieving cake? What kind of person do you take me for?”
“Okay, one, we’ve known each other for, like, a year. I can hardly say that’s a ‘long time’,” Xiumin shoots Jongdae a look, “And two, I can accuse of you eating cake samples because that is literally all you do when you come here.”
“That’s not true,” Jongdae denies.
“Yes. It is,” Xiumin blinks, “Remember last time, when you ate so much red velvet samples that you almost -”
“Oh, okay that was once,” Jongdae cuts him off with a wave of a hand, “But I have a real reason to be here this time.”
“Like what? You want to decorate a cake?” Xiumin raises an eyebrow and lets out a short laugh.
“Yes, actually,” Jongdae nods, “I do.”
Xiumin stares at the younger boy for a few minutes before bursting into a fit of laughter that has him nearly in tears.
“You’re joking, right?” he asks between gasps of breath.
“No,” Jongdae responds with a solemn expression, “I actually want to decorate a cake.”
Xiumin quickly sobers when he notices the seriousness in his friend’s voice.
“Wow, you really aren’t joking,” he says softly.
Jongdae shakes his head as he stares down at his shoes. He purses his lips and he absentmindedly swings his leg back and forth, the sole of his worn out Vans scuffing against the tile.
“Can I ask who this cake is for?” Xiumin asks as they both walk to an empty decorating table, “And you better not say for yourself.”
“It’s not for me!” the boy scoffs as they sit, “It’s for someone … I met.”
“Oh?” Xiumin eyes light up with interest as he places his basket on the table, “Who is this person? C’mon now. Spill.”
“His name is Joonmyun,” Jongdae mumbles as he draws swirls on a pad of planning paper with a pencil. Xiumin doesn’t fail to notice how his cheeks are turning slightly red.
“Where did you guys meet?” Xiumin questions.
“Okay, don’t laugh, but we met at one of those speed dating things.”
Xiumin’s first reaction was to indeed laugh. But when he saw how Jongdae, haughty, pretentious, little shit Jongdae, duck his head and shyly bite his lip he decides to be the good friend that he is and clamp his lips together and nod.
“That’s interesting.”
“But he invited me over to his apartment for dinner and I think that it’s our first date but I’m not really sure but I don’t want to go empty handed so that’s why I’m here and I want to decorate a cake,” Jongdae says quickly and all in one breath.
Xiumin smiles softly his anxious friend. He’ll never admit it out loud, but it was rather nice seeing this side of Jongdae. It made Jongdae seem almost human.
“I can tell you really like him.”
“Well, yeah I guess,” Jongdae shrugs, smiling slightly to himself.
But the bashful Jongdae leaves as quickly as he came and in a blink of an eye, sitting in front of Xiumin, is the (quite irritating) Jongdae that he had come to love (somewhat).
“But, anyways,” Jongdae smirks as he places his feet on the table, almost knocking Xiumin’s basket and all the decorations inside to the floor, “this cake has to kick ass. I have to make Joonmyun think, ‘Wow, not only does Jongdae have devilish good looks and charm, but he has an artistic side as well.’ I want him to think of me as the Picasso of Pastries or the Da Vinci of Decorating, you know what I mean?”
“Da Vinci, huh?” Xiumin raises an unamused eyebrow.
Jongdae nods smugly.
“Okay then Leonardo, what color fondant are you going to use?” Xiumin asks offhandedly as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“What’s fondant?” Jongdae stares back blankly, “Is that the cheese thing people dip fruit in?”
Xiumin rolls his eyes and tiredly shakes his head before grabbing his basket.
“That’s fondue and I advise you learn the basic tools of cake decorating before you even think about impressing anyone, especially someone that you like,” he throws over his shoulder as he retreats back towards the shelves, leaving a very confused Jongdae staring after him.
» four hours later »
Chanyeol’s life is over.
He wishes a hole would form under his feet so he could fall into an infinite abyss and escape this horrible, cruel chunk of rock we call Earth. Hell, even if the hole opened up two blocks from his apartment, he would gladly run down the five flights of stairs, down the sidewalk, avoid the fire hydrant that he nearly trips over every day on his way to class, and jump right on in. But since he figures no pits of nothingness or black holes will be opening up in Seoul anytime soon, he opts for moping his apartment because it’s basically the same thing.
So that’s how Xiumin finds his roommate, facedown on their sofa, gangly limbs sprawled all over the place, when he comes home from work one day. He’s tired, his feet hurt from standing all day, a major headache is pounding at the back of his head (because of an excessive amount of frustration caused by a certain “costumer” by the name of Kim freaking Jongdae), and, perhaps most importantly, he’s starving. Being around dozens of cakes and sugary sweets does that to a guy.
“Do I even want to ask?” he calls out as he walks into the kitchen and rummages in their practically empty refrigerator.
A mumbled response comes from the living room.
“What did you say?” Xiumin asks over his shoulder as he shakes a carton of orange juice and hears a faint sloshing.
More, but slightly louder, mumbles and grumbles float from the living into the kitchen.
“Dude, I can’t hear you,” Xiumin chucks the empty juice carton into the trashcan and settles from an apple that’s sitting in the basket on their counter.
“I said,” Chanyeol abruptly lifts his head up, “my life is over.” He then proceeds to quickly drop his head back down onto the upholstery.
“And why is your life over?” Xiumin asks halfheartedly as he examines his apple.
“Baekhyun doesn’t love me!” Chanyeol wails and thrashes around so dramatically that he ends up falling off of the couch.
Xiumin walks into the living room and jumps onto the now vacant couch. He takes a bite of his apple and stares down at Chanyeol as he sits up with a groan and rubs his back.
“And how do you know that the little puppy doesn’t love you? It’s not like you ever really talked to him before.”
“I talk to him!” Chanyeol bites back.
“Asking him if the seat next to him is free doesn’t count as talking,” Xiumin says and Chanyeol’s shoulders sag slightly.
“I ask him about class assignments too,” the taller boys mumbles with a small pout.
Xiumin rolls his eyes and takes another bite out of his apple, “But really, how do you know that Byun Baekhyun doesn’t love you?”
Chanyeol flops onto his back and stretches his arms over his head, “Because he hates me.”
“Bullshit,” the elder dismisses, “We both know that that kid is not capable of hating anything. So what did he really do?”
Chanyeol heaves a sigh and crosses his hands behind his head.
“I saw him hugging a panda looking kid after our music history class.”
“Okay… And?”
He looks up at Xiumin and blinks, “And that’s it.”
Xiumin fights back the desire to beam Chanyeol in the head with his apple core.
“That doesn’t mean anything! Hugging doesn’t mean anything!”
“You didn’t see that hug!” Chanyeol shouts back, “That was no ordinary hug!”
“Do you know that?!” Xiumin knows he’s already way past his boiling point, “No, you don’t because you’re always too scared to talk to him!”
“It’s scary, okay?! I don’t want to get rejected!” Chanyeol screams, eyes shining.
Xiumin can feel his temper start to simmer down when he sees his friend nearly in tears and guilt quickly replaces his frustration.
“Hey, I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Xiumin says softly, “It’s just, you don’t see how Baekhyun looks at you when you’re sitting next to each other in class.”
“He looks at me?” Chanyeol asks in a small voice.
He nods, “All the time. He always looks like he wants to talk to you but he always looks back down at his notebook whenever you look up at him.”
“Really?” Chanyeol’s eyes widen like a kid’s who was told that Christmas was coming early.
Xiumin laughs and nods again.
“Wow,” Chanyeol breathes, a small spark in his eye.
“Where are you going?” Xiumin asks when Chanyeol stands up and runs towards the door.
“I’m going to talk to Baekhyun,” he beams back as he grabs his jacket and keys, “It’s Wednesday, so he’s probably getting coffee at the Coffee Bean across the street from campus. I’ll see you later!”
Before Xiumin can even bid him goodbye, the door closes and he’s left alone in the quiet apartment. He purses his lips and looks around. He looks down when his stomach whines.
“Don’t worry. Daddy will find something for you,” he says, rubbing circles on his empty belly as he walks back into the kitchen.
« thirty minutes earlier «
“One Americano and a chocolate croissant,” Baekhyun smiles as he places the plate and cup of coffee in front of Tao.
“How did you know I like chocolate croissants?” Tao asks, eyes wide like a five year old.
“Because I know you, that’s how,” he smiles and ruffles the younger’s hair before sitting down.
“Don’t do that!” Tao whines as he hastily smooths his hair back into place, “I always tell you hate it when you do that.”
“I know,” Baekhyun chuckles before taking a sip of his latte.
“Then why do you keep doing it?”
“Because you’re reaction gets better and better every time,” he shrugs.
Tao scowls, to which Baekhyun can’t help but laugh at, and takes a harsh bite out of his croissant, smearing melted chocolate all over his lips and chin. Baekhyun shakes his head and reaches over to wipe his face with a napkin, doting on the younger like he always does.
“Thanks,” Tao mumbles, cheeks full of pastry.
“No prob,” Baekhyun smiles, “So how have you been?”
“Pretty good I guess. Just been studying, hanging out with friends, nothing much. What about you?”
“Same. All the work from class has been taking over my life,” Baekhyun sighs.
Tao absentmindedly gnaws on his straw, “Met anyone interesting lately?”
Just as Baekhyun is about to answer, the bell above the door to the coffee shop cuts him off. They both turn towards the entrance and see a tall boy on the lankier side standing in the doorway, peering around the small café. His eyes quickly sweep across the room and light up slightly when they land on their table.
Tao turns towards the boy sitting across from him when he hears a small gasp.
“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun whispers as the boy storms over to their table.
“Chanyeol?” Tao raises an eyebrow but gets ignored as Baekhyun sits up straight in his chair and hastily dusts non-existent crumbs off of his shirt.
“Hey, Chanyeol,” he smiles and gives the boy a small wave (Tao almost laughs out loud at his awkwardness), “What are you doing here?”
Chanyeol had it completely figured out, he even planned a small speech on the walk over the coffee shop. But his gaze falls on the panda eyed boy sitting across from Baekhyun, his mind completely blanks, his speech flying out the window with all of his resolve. A sudden warmth creeps up his neck when the smaller boy blinks up at him and tips his head slightly to the side in wonder. And all that leaves Chanyeol’s mouth is a garbled mess.
Baekhyun squints his eyes as he tries to decipher the noise that just left Chanyeol’s mouth as the latter stares intently at the ground, his face at least three shades pinker than it was when he first entered.
Tao glances between his the two boys, a smirk forming on his face. He abruptly stands up and takes an exaggerated glance at his watch, “I better get going if I want to make it time for my tutoring session.”
Baekhyun looks up at him as he slings his bag over his shoulder, “You have a tutor? Why? You’re a straight-A student.”
“I have nothing better to do after school and he’s hot,” Tao shrugs and sends Baekhyun a not so discreet wink, “But thanks anyways for the pastries, hyung. You’re the best cousin ever!”
Chanyeol’s jaw literally drops as Baekhyun smiles and waves with a “we should do this again” as Tao exits the coffee shop.
Baekhyun turns towards Chanyeol and flinches slightly when he finds the giant staring rather intensely down at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“Is something wrong?” he asks slowly.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was your cousin?!” Chanyeol explodes.
A few people look over at their table and Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol down onto the chair that Tao had vacated.
“What does it matter?” he whispers harshly.
Chanyeol heaves a sigh and scratches the back of his head, “Never mind. It’s nothing.”
“No, tell me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me why!”
“Fine! Because I like you!” the words start to tumble out of Chanyeol’s mouth, “And I saw you hugging him and I thought that he was your boyfriend so I got jealous but turns out, he’s your cousin and Xiumin was right and I got jealous over nothing!”
Ripples form on the surface of Baekhyun’s abandoned latte when Chanyeol slams his head down on the table.
Baekhyun blinks at Chanyeol as he rolls his head onto its side, a bright red splotch dead center on his forehead.
But when Baekhyun reaches out and gently pats him on the head, his forehead is no longer the only thing that’s bright red.
» three days later »
Wufan is in the middle of pouring water into two glass cups when the doorbell rings. Less than two seconds later, it rings again. And, again. And, again. He slams the pitcher on the counter and sends a glare over his shoulder before stalking over to the door and throwing it open.
Tao looks up at him, finger paused over the doorbell.
“What do you want?” Wufan mutters at the younger boy, “It’s Saturday and I already had to babysit you once this week.”
Tao rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, “I have a test on Monday.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Wufan sighs and leans lazily against the door jam, “Just like you do on all of your other tests.”
“But you’re my tutor. You’re supposed to help me,” Tao rebuttals, “and I need your help now.”
“We both know you don’t.”
“Please,” he whines.
“No.”
“Please.”
The elder sighs and begins to push the door close, “Goodbye, Tao.”
“I’ll pay you double!”
Wufan’s hand pauses for a moment and he looks up to see Tao raising his eyebrows in anticipation even though he already knows what his answer is going to be. He’s a college student, enough said.
He barely manages to get out an “Ugh, fine” before Tao pushes the door open again and steps into his house.
He ruffles the back of his hair as the younger takes of his shoes. Wufan gives him a questioning look when he stands up and his eyes rake over his form.
“Nice outfit,” Tao says a little too suggestively as he passes.
Wufan is left standing next to the front door, staring after him. He looks down at his sweatpants and loose tank top before rolling his eyes and following Tao into the kitchen.
He pauses in the doorway when he sees Tao leaning against the counter and brining a glass of water up to his lips.
“Hey, that’s not for you,” he says as he snatches the glass out of Tao’s hand.
“Then who’s it for?” Tao questions.
“It’s mine,” Wufan replies and takes a sip.
“Well, who’s the other one for?” Tao points to the other glass of water that’s sitting on the counter.
Wufan feels a sudden warmth crawl up his neck, “Uhhhh…”
Tao raises his an eyebrow at him.
“It’s mine too,” Wufan blurts out and takes the second glass in his free hand, taking a sip from that glass as well, “They’re both for me. I’m really thirsty, okay? Just go sit over there and do whatever.”
Tao gives his tutor a strange look before walking over to the kitchen table.
“Damn, what’s up your ass?” Tao grumbles as he takes his practice test out of his bag.
“Nothing’s up my ass!” Wufan snaps back a little too quickly, “Nothing will ever be up my ass. What kind of person do -”
“Hey Wufan,” a tired voice calls, “I just asked you to get me some water. What’s taking so long?”
Wufan and Tao’s heads snap towards the direction of the voice. Wufan’s face immediately flushes ten shades of embarrassment as Tao battles down the urge to explode into laughter at the scene in front of him.
Yixing stands in the doorway of the kitchen, sleepily scratching one eye as he lets out a small yawn. His chocolate hair is sticking up in different angles and a shirt that is at least two sizes to big for him (and obviously not his) hangs lopsidedly on his shoulders.
“Yixing!” Wufan stares at smaller boy in shock, “W-What are you doing out of bed?”
“I was thirsty,” he responds. He pads across the tile flooring, eyes still half closed, and wraps his arms around Wufan’s waist, resting his head against elder’s chest.
Tao almost loses it when he sees the mortified look on his tutor’s face. But amusement is quickly replaced by nausea when stunned wide eyes turn into endearing half moons and Wufan wraps his arms around Yixing, slightly swaying the both of them side to side. He dramatically double overs in his chair, his faux gagging going unnoticed by the couple standing a few feet away.
“Here,” Wufan says softly and picks up one of the glasses of water, “Go wait upstairs for me. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Yixing holds the glass between both of his hands and nods, flashing his dimples up at Wufan before turning on his heels. It isn’t until he’s halfway across the kitchen that he glances to his side and he notices Tao sitting at the kitchen table, his face molded into a disgusted grimace.
“Oh, hey Tao,” he grins.
The two silently watch Yixing leave the kitchen. Wufan lets out a sigh and leans against the counter with a content smile. But the corners of his lips dip into a frown when he looks over and sees Tao smirking at him with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“So. Nothing up your ass, huh?”
« one day earlier «
Luhan glares down at his phone screen as he drags his feet across the carpet into the bedroom. He flings himself onto the bed next to Sehun who’s editing a term paper that’s due the next morning. He stares up at the boy with intent as he tries to send him a telepathic message to pay attention to him. But Sehun continues to focus on his laptop, eyes moving across the screen and fingers flying over the keyboard every now and then.
Luhan huffs and rolls onto his stomach. He lets out an exaggerated groan, one that pretty much screams, “Pay attention to me!” in Sehun’s face.
“What do you want?” the younger asks dully, eyes still on his computer screen.
“Why isn’t Yixing answering my calls?” Luhan asks with his face still pressed into the comforter.
“He’s with someone.”
Luhan rolls onto his side again and stare up at Sehun in confusion.
“Now? It’s like,” he checks the time on his phone, “almost midnight.”
Sehun glances away from his essay for the first time since Luhan walked into the room and gives him a look.
Realization flashes across Luhan’s face and he slowly puts down his phone.
“Oh,” he mouths.
Sehun smirks and turns back to his word document.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” the older mumbles as he stares up at the ceiling.
“Because it’s something private for him and you are incapable of keeping your mouth shut.”
“I am not!” Luhan huffs, “I am totally capable of keeping secrets. Like, I didn’t tell you or Yixing that Jongin’s never been on a date in over three months.”
“Well now you did,” Sehun rolls his eyes, “See, incapable.”
“Ugh, whatever,” Luhan waves his hand aloofly, “You were bound to find out eventually.”
Sehun scoffs and sends an incredulous look at his boyfriend as something on the bedside table catches the doe eyed boy’s attention.
“What’s this?”
Luhan crawls across the bed and picks up the pink paper.
Sehun shrugs as he saves his word document and closes his laptop. He’s already accepted the fact that he’s never going to be able to finish his essay with Luhan pestering him.
“I don’t know. Some guy gave it to me.”
“Speed dating?” he raises his eyebrows as he reads the words printed on the flyer, “Do you really look that sad and lonely when you’re not with me?”
“No I don’t, shut up,” Sehun mutters as he flops onto his back.
Luhan chuckles softly but continues to read black type printed across the contrasting pink paper.
“And you can throw that away when you’re done looking at it,” Sehun continues, “Neither of us obviously have a need for speed dating.”
“You know, I think I might keep it.”
Sehun sits up suddenly, “Why? You already have me. You don’t need it.”
“Yeah, I know,” Luhan says as he folds up the flyer and flings it towards his backpack, “But I know someone who does.”
» two days later »
“So whatcha doing this weekend?” Luhan asks as he sits cross-legged on the wooden floor of the dance studio, a bottle of water in one hand and a towel in the other.
Jongin shrugs as he snags the bottle from the elder’s hand and takes a sip, “I’m not sure yet.”
“Do you want come with me and Sehun to the club?”
“And be an awkward third wheel again?” Jongin lets out a humorless laugh, “I don’t think so. But thanks anyway.”
“So … you don’t have any plans then?” Luhan asks.
Jongin notices the small glint in his eye, “No,” he answers slowly.
“Great!” Luhan jumps to his feet and scuttles over to his duffle bag.
Jongin watches Luhan sift around in his bag. He returns to his side, holding something behind his back.
“So I have a surprise for you,” Luhan smiles.
“Oh great. Is it anything like your last surprise for me?” the younger mutters, shuddering at the memory.
Without getting into detail, let’s just say that the last time Luhan had “a surprise” for Jongin, The latter ended up in the shower for over two hours, washing honey and sequences out of his hair.
Luhan pouts a little, “It’s a good surprise this time, I promise. Or, well, it doesn’t involve anything sticky.”
“Fine,” Jongin sighs after a moment of hesitation, “What is it?”
“Ta-dah!!!” Luhan beams and pulls out a pink flyer from behind his back.
“Speed dating?” Jongin raises an eyebrow, “No. No way.”
“Aw come on! It’ll be fun!”
“No,” he shakes his head again, “I don’t need a speed dating service to get me a date.”
“You haven’t been on a date in over three months so obviously you do,” Luhan points out.
“Hey!” Jongin quickly throws a hand over Luhan’s mouth and looks warily around the studio, “Don’t say that so loud, everyone could hear.”
Luhan throws the younger hand off his face and rolls his eyes, “Whatever, they already know anyways.”
“What?” Jongin asks in confusion.
“Oh, nothing, never mind,” Luhan waves his question off, “Can you just please go?”
“No,” Jongin responds curtly.
“Please?”
Jongin shakes his head.
“Pretty please? For me?” Luhan bats his eyes innocently.
“Luhan,” Jongin whines.
“Why not?” the elder huffs, “I hear you can meet some pretty nice guys at these things.”
“I don’t want to,” Jongin mumbles.
Luhan sighs and places a hand on Jongin’s shoulder as the younger plays with the laces on his shoes.
“Listen, I know you’re shy Jongin. I’ve never really understood why because you’re so confident on stage and with you’re looks you shouldn’t be shy. I mean everyone thinks you’re hot and stuff, like I even catch our instructor checking you out sometimes…But that’s beside the point!” Luhan shakes his head as he cuts off his own ramble, “What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to worry about putting yourself out there or approaching anyone because they pretty much approach you. I mean, they literally sit across from you and talk.”
Jongin doesn’t reply and continues to trace invisible designs on the wood flooring.
Luhan sets his lips into a firm line and places the flyer onto Jongin’s knee.
“Just think about it, okay? It can’t hurt to try and you might even end up meeting someone special.”
Jongin looks up and Luhan gives him an encouraging grin.
“Okay,” Jongin says softly, “I’ll think about it.”
» two days later »
“So you’re only here because you’re friend Joonmyun forced you?”
“Kind of,” Kyungsoo shrugs, “he even gave me this flyer.”
Kyungsoo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pink flyer for the event. He sends a questioning look Jongin’s way when he starts to chuckle.
“Well, looks like we have something in common,” Jongin laughs and pull out an identical flyer from his pocket as well.
Kyungsoo’s lips form into a heart shaped smile. Jongin’s eyes turn into crescents once again when a melodious laugh escapes Kyungsoo’s lips and fills his soul.
Somewhere between the ramblings and thoughtful lip bites, among the exaggerated hand gestures and fits of giggles, Jongin finds himself on a one-way train headed towards Kyungsoo’s heart.
A bell rings and Kyungsoo’s smile turns into a frown. People sitting around them stand up and start to shift tables but Jongin makes no move to leave.
“Hey, do you want to get out of here?” Jongin asks quietly.
Kyungsoo blinks at him in surprise before nodding.
A bust of night air hits their faces when they step onto the sidewalk.
“So where did you get the flyer from?” Kyungsoo asks as he and Jongin walk down the street, hands in their coat pockets and huddled close.
“My friend's boyfriend,” Jongin replies, “He said that some guy gave it to him when he was eating in some pasta restaurant.”
~~~
The Six Degrees concept is the theory that everyone in the world is connected by a maximum of six people. The only challenge is finding the perfect combination of people and, somehow, we did.
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A/N: Finally got this one done. Inspired by the film Six Degrees of Separation that I had to watch for one of my film classes. And once again, thanks to Tina and Mikela for all of your help!