Kids, a Date, and a Game
Title: Kids, a Date, and a Game (3/4)
Author: tikibuddy91
Genre: General, Fluff? (omg idek),
Pairing: KrisHo, Kaisoo
Rating: G
Word Count: 5470
Summary: Continuation from Into the Chair, Into the Ground, and Into the Earth's Mantle, and The Competition. The linked fics talked about kids at the camp that Yifan and Joonmyeon are volunteering at. This is what happens after that. LOL.... and it's not done yet.
“Alright, so now we’re gonna go to the music workshop…” Yifan muttered to Joonmyeon before he glanced over to the kids around them. “Think they’ll be paying attention in there?”
A weak shrug.
“Same here… It’s supposed to have instruments, if I recall from last year. I hope none of them will be fragile this year.” Yifan stood up before extending a hand to Joonmyeon.
Joonmyeon eyed him warily as he accepted his hand to stand up. He was wondering why Yifan would say that with such a serious tone in his voice. “Thanks.”
A smile.
“Er… Did…someone break something last year?”
“Not from this group last year, no. It was from one of the middle school groups. The instructor last year was forgiving about it, thank goodness. But the poor kid cried and didn’t want to participate in the next day during the music workshop. Speaking of which, he might be here again.” Yifan scanned the assembly for the kid from where he stood. Unfortunately, it was just too crowded, with so many people trying to get out of the assembly to go to their first workshops of the morning.
“Ahh, there’s too many; maybe later today, during lunch. Anyway, let’s get going. Workshop’s in five minutes. Come on, follow us, kids! Parents, come with us, too!”
His attention now to the kids, Joonmyeon started calling out some of the kids’ names to get their attentions to fall in line and follow Yifan and him to their music workshop. Unable to resist, he searched for Sehun, who held hands with Zitao as the two kids waved Luhan goodbye. He smiled and was about to call them too, when they turned and caught up with their group. Joonmyeon noticed Sehun had looked up, looking for someone when their eyes met, and he was met with Sehun’s gleaming eyes and an adorable wave of a hand.
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The first workshop went unexpectedly smooth; it was not quiet, of course, but the noise level was comfortable, due to the aid of parents shushing, with Joonmyeon and Yifan, to the kids. Sehun and Zitao were among the attentive students of the group.
(By attentive, at least they were not running around the classroom hyperactively and touching things that they should not be touching.)
When the group paired up in twos, Sehun automatically scooted close to Zitao and shoved out others who would try to pair up with him.
“No! I don’t want! Sheeto and Sehun! Sheeto and Sehun!” Sehun was practically glaring at the other kids. “MINE!”
“Boys, I have a drum for you~” The instructor cooed to the toddlers to quell the squabble. “For Zitao and Sehun!”
Joonmyeon and Yifan watched in amusement when the two now quiet kids marveled upon receiving a single, big toy drum and two sticks. They switched the drumsticks with each other a few times before settling with their own stick. They were among the few that had drums to play; the other pairs had maracas or little horns.
When the music started playing from the boom box, Joonmyeon was the first to clap to the rhythm and Yifan followed suit, watching him with a smile on his face. Soon, the parents joined in and the kids started playing with their instruments.
Alas, the kids are still young, so no one could find it in their hearts to criticize them for playing offbeat to the music, and making strange tunes. At least everyone was having fun.
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The second workshop was a disaster, a beautiful disaster.
How it all started was that fortunately, the workshop took place in the shaded outdoor area, the kids had large bibs that prevent their clothes from getting dirty, and the kids had large paintbrushes. Cleanup would be easy…but not when there were spilled paint cups and water splashes on the tables, on some papers, and unused paper towels.
A few of the kids had their own parents supervising them, so that left Sehun, Zitao and eight other kids unsupervised. However, the parents were willing to supervise one more kid each, so it left Sehun, Zitao, and two other kids.
Sehun and Zitao had lured Joonmyeon and Yifan respectively with their puppy eyes and pouting lips, leaving one of the two instructors with the remaining two kids. It was not coincidence that Zitao and Sehun sat next to each other the moment the painting workshop started.
When Joonmyeon and Yifan came to sit next to their own supervising kid, they would watch them as they paint, sometimes helping them out with cleaning the paintbrushes or drying up wet splashes outside of the painting papers. Both Zitao and Sehun were happily painting their artwork when Yifan sneaked a chance to take a small paintbrush and paint a green stripe on a blank space of Sehun’s paper.
It happened so sudden and Joonmyeon’s eyes widened at the quick action. Joonmyeon stared accusingly at Yifan, mouthing to him, “What was that for?” Yifan winked at him and shrugged with a playful smirk. Joonmyeon observed the painting with held breath, and the obvious green stripe that could not pass for an accidental stroke of a brush.
Sehun had stopped mid-painting when he noticed Yifan had painted a green stripe on his paper with a rainbow on it. The poor kid stared at it for a few moments before slowly looking up at a grinning Yifan, with no expression at all. He unconsciously dropped his paintbrush onto his paper.
Joonmyeon nervously looked between Sehun and Yifan as a few more moments had passed without either side saying anything. Yifan, at first, was a bit amused because of Sehun’s lack of reaction, but the longer Sehun stared at him with that unexpressive look, the less funny Yifan feels, and slowly, Yifan’s smile sinks down to a frown.
Meanwhile, Zitao had briefly stopped what he was working on, looking between Yifan and Sehun as he caught on what seemed to be going on.
“S…Se-Sehun-ah, I’m sorry that I messed up your painting. It was wrong of me to do that,” Yifan softly spoke to Sehun, his eyes never leaving the toddler’s. Sehun continued to stare at him.
“Can you forgive me?”
No answer.
Under the heavy gaze of the toddler, Yifan decided to take a small damp paper towel and try to erase off the stripe.
The paint already dried. Yifan winced.
“Uh…does Sehunnie still like Yifannie-hyung?”
Almost towards the end of Yifan’s question, the toddler suddenly turned away to hug Joonmyeon, or at least wrap his arms around Joonmyeon’s neck, no longer wanting to do anything with his painting. Though a bit taken aback from Sehun’s action, Joonmyeon shot an exasperated look at Yifan for his inconsiderable behavior earlier. Yifan mouthed silently, “Sorry” with one hand rubbing his nape.
“Sehun-ah…”
Yifan received no answer. He glanced around the area, and he could see some parents watching them with concern. They apparently did not know about what just happened, so he smiled back, assuring them that everything is okay at the moment.
“Y-yah…Sehun-ah… Sehunnie… Yifan-hyung’s really sorry about painting the green stripe.” The tall male caressed Sehun’s head with an apologetic look on his face.
Sehun finally reacted with a quiet, annoyed grunt and shrugging Yifan’s hand off his head. He dug his head deeper against Joonmyeon’s neck.
Joonmyeon had to refrain from giggling at his friend’s predicament, as the tall man was looking aghast. Zitao had gone back to his painting and continued his work.
“Yah,” Yifan gently tapped Sehun’s shoulder with his hand. “…Yah, does Sehunnie still like me? Does Sehunnie still like Yifannie-hyung? I’m sorry for hurting your feelings.”
Sehun did not budge; Joonmyeon did not feel any wetness on his neck. The fair-skinned leader assumed that Sehun must felt like he just wanted to be held right now, as he sensed the kid adjusting his head to be comfortable on his shoulder. Imagining Sehun to be pouting, Joonmyeon sighed and allowed Sehun to be held in his arms for a while.
“Sehun-ah,” Joonmyeon crooned, “Yifan-hyung said he was sorry. Do you forgive him? Do you still like him?”
Joonmyeon and Yifan waited a few seconds, as the latter casted worrying glances between Sehun and his partner. Joonmyeon felt a soft nod against his neck.
“You’re okay,” Joonmyeon mouthed to Yifan with a soft smile. Yifan visibly sagged his shoulders in relief and lifted a hand to rub Sehun’s back.
Just then, there was a soft clatter as Zitao had placed his paintbrush in the cup and picked up his finished work.
“Sehunniiieee!”
Joonmyeon felt Sehun’s head move on his shoulders, and Sehun slowly pulled away from him. Sehun was staring at the floor, not looking neither at Zitao nor the painting that was being held up in front of him.
“Sehunnie, look!” Rustle rustle. Zitao was slightly shaking his paper to get his friend’s attention.
Sehun made eye contact with his beaming friend before he looked at the painting. It was utter chaos of red, yellow, purple, and green. There were no traces of blue, orange, brown or black color on the paper. Neither Joonmyeon nor Yifan could make out what the painting was supposed to be, but it could definitely pass as an abstract art.
“For you!”
Zitao handed his paintwork to Sehun. Sehun’s eyes slightly widened at Zitao’s generous act. The Korean toddler glanced up and down between Zitao and the artwork, before he reluctantly accepted his gift.
Zitao giggled and patted Sehun’s head. “I can paint another one. You keep that! Keep, okay??” He took Sehun’s head in his hands and said, more to himself, “’Thank you, Towie!’ You’re welcome, Sehunnie!”
Joonmyeon and Yifan stared at each other, at loss for words, while Zitao painted another messy painting. Sehun did not do anything else but stare at his gift in his hands and mumble nonsense to Joonmyeon, his artwork left forgotten on the table.
(When it was time for their group to move to the next workshop, Yifan decided to take it with him, in case Sehun might change his mind and want it as well.)
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If Zitao’s painting was any indication of how chaotic things could be, the games workshop was a sure sign of how crazy things went when there are little kids, an outdoor space, and a game of tag.
When the game instructor explained to the group that they have to stick in pairs, Zitao immediately grabbed Sehun’s hand, while the others paired up randomly; the two kids stuck like glue throughout the whole workshop. All the kids were squealing excitedly and running energetically as they played a long game of tag around the area, surrounded by the instructors, parents, Joonmyeon and Yifan.
Yifan thought it was fun watching the kids play tag, so he decided he could join in and play with the kids. As Yifan casually stepped inside the circled area, Joonmyeon gaped at him with widened eyes, because the male was freaking tall and the kids were freaking small.
It’s like Jack versus the Giant…except about two-dozen of Jacks.
“W-wait, Yif-…”
“AAHHHHH!!!”
“Phbbbtt!” Joonmyeon let out a weird noise, blowing raspberry with his lips, as he watched in awed amusement at the scene in front of him.
The kids refused to go near Yifan, or allow him to get near. They would immediately scramble to their parents and instructors, hiding behind them and squealing with glee.
It was such a hilarious sight for the parents, the instructors and Joonmyeon to see: Yifan standing alone in the middle of the circle. The shorter leader cackled with no sympathy towards Yifan, as the latter often looked back at him with pouting lips.
He was not ready when Yifan suddenly walked up to him and took his hand.
“Whoa whoa whoa, wait what are you doing, Yifan? Wait!”
It was no use stopping Yifan as he dragged Joonmyeon into the circled area and made him as a peace offering to the kids. Smirking to himself, Yifan quickly made his way back to join in line with the parents and instructors supervising the game. The kids suddenly gathered round the shorter male, and as soon as one kid - Zitao - touched him with a squeal of “You’re it”, the kids ran around like crazy.
Joonmyeon put on a mockingly whiny behavior at the kids. They giggled while some dared to go up to him and prod his panted legs with their tiny hands as quickly as they can without being tagged. Joonmyeon just stood there, watching his group with a shake of his head and an amused look. He glanced up at Yifan, standing where Joonmyeon himself last stood on, and shot a playful annoyed look. Yifan stuck out a tongue in retaliation. Joonmyeon shook his head and attempted to pretend not to acknowledge his tall partner’s presence throughout the game.
He failed, of course, because no one could ignore a giant.
Every time Joonmyeon sneaked a chance to glimpse at Yifan while he ran to get some kids, his heart skipped a beat before he looked away. He could tell Yifan was looking his way, and from those fleeting moments that he made eye contact with the tall male, he could see Yifan’s faint smile and his intense gaze that spoke more than just admiration. He could even feel his gaze on him wherever he went.
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Lunch went by pretty quick but busy, as every kid from all the grades, every volunteer, and every parent volunteer gathered in the cafeteria, where they had the general assembly that morning, to help themselves. Joonmyeon and Yifan reunited with Kyungsoo, Jongin, Sunyoung, and Soojung; their groups of kids were mixed around in the cafeteria, as some had met new friends and some had met up with their siblings or friends.
As Joonmyeon and Yifan had been chatting with Kyungsoo and the others, they heard a squeal near Joonmyeon. It turned out to belong to Sehun’s voice, in which Luhan was tickling his younger brother.
“Sehun seems like an endearing kid,” Kyungsoo commented after the group watched the Oh brothers for a few moments. “He took a liking to you guys, hyungs…especially you, Joonmyeon-hyung.” He smiled as he recalled earlier in the beginning of lunch when Sehun was sticking to Joonmyeon like glue as the two of them walked by the table that was serving up their lunches. Sehun had gotten excited when he saw small cups of homemade bubble tea; he had grabbed Joonmyeon’s hand by the finger and pulled Joonmyeon to the cups, but Joonmyeon chuckled and told him to wait his turn as they were in line. Sehun had quickly obeyed and waited, keeping a watchful eye on one of the cups, until they finally got their turns, and Sehun was overjoyed at having bubble tea in his hands.
“Yeah, although, he’s been kind of distant with you, Yifan-hyung… This morning, he was like sticking to you as if you were some magnet, but now, it’s not the same. Did something happen within the workshops?”
Yifan paled as an answer, while Joonmyeon nodded gently with a soft chuckle.
“Let’s not talk about it. What I did was immature. He forgave me for that. End of story.”
“O-oh…” Kyungsoo sounded like he was still curious about it, but he dropped the subject.
“Ah! Yifan-hyung, were you gonna show me that kid who broke the instrument?” Joonmyeon asked between the chewing of his tempura sushi.
“Oh yeah,” Yifan straightened up and scanned the tables. “There he is, Zhang Yixing. The one with the dimples.”
Joonmyeon looked over to where Yifan was pointing. The kid was spacing out, his lunch halfway eaten. Then, all of a sudden, his body does a little jerk and Yixing looked to his right, looking at some kid before he grinned and replied back to something the kid must have said.
“Ahem, may I have your attention, please?”
Joonmyeon, Yifan, the group leaders, the parent volunteers and some of the kids heard the voice of Linda booming through the cafeteria with an aid of the microphone. The kids were still rowdy and chatting, not quite registering the request. Within seconds, the whole cafeteria became quiet and focused on the woman onstage.
“Lunch will be done in a few minutes, and I would like to ask for the Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners to stay here in the cafeteria, but gather closer to the stage in the open space. The rest of you children will go on to the rest of your workshop schedules. The little ones will be going home early, so we would like to hold a small assembly for them before they go, okay?” Joonmyeon and Yifan heard their group cheering in response and they smiled. Linda chuckled. “Okay, we have five more minutes and then I’m gonna ask the leaders of the 1st to 12th grade students to go to their workshops.
“Remember, Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners, stay here when lunch is done. Mr. Joonmyeon and Mr. Yifan,” Joonmyeon and Yifan were quick to receive Linda’s authoritative stare when their names were called, “please make sure they know they are not going home yet; we still have a small assembly for them. Thank you.”
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In the small break that was given for the older kids to go to their workshops, Joonmyeon took roll call of the kids in his group to make sure everyone was here. Yifan meanwhile had returned some of the artworks to the kids. When he had given Zitao’s present and Sehun’s own artwork to Sehun, Sehun quietly accepted them, not quite meeting the tall male’s eyes. Yifan had supposed Sehun might still be a little hurt from the incident in the painting workshop, so he just ruffled Sehun’s head gently. Zitao, on the other hand, had thanked Yifan when he received his work and gave him a hug before he pulled away, and sat down with Sehun, placing an arm around his friend’s shoulders.
The assembly was really short, as it was just a few songs to sing along and some announcements for the parents to take note. The moment the assembly started, the parents that were not volunteering at the workshop, including Sehun’s mother, had entered without the kids knowing. Yifan and Joonmyeon watched with knowing smirks while the kids were engrossed with singing songs.
When it was time for the announcements, most of the kids became restless and some were still unaware that their parents were standing in the back of the cafeteria. Even Zitao and Sehun were not aware, for they were lost in their own world, giggling and playing some hand games.
“And now we have some of your mommies and daddies here in the cafeteria, ready and happy to take you home! Come on closer, mommies and daddies! Children, go to your parents!”
There was a sudden loud burst of gleeful yelling as the parents faced a stampede of children with their artworks in hand.
Joonmyeon and Yifan laughed at the sight, unable to resist the smiles on their faces. Soon afterwards, they were met with parents and their kids as they received “thank you”s and “see you tomorrow”s.
“Mama, Shoonmyeon! Shoonmyeon!”
Joonmyeon and Yifan turned to where they heard Sehun calling out Joonmyeon’s name. They saw him leading his mother over to them, with Zitao and his mom trailing behind. After some introductions and conversations were made between the mothers and the two leaders, Linda came over to the boys, the seven of them being the only remaining ones in the cafeteria.
“Children, I hope your first day went well. This goes out to both you fine young men and you adorable little kids.”
Zitao exclaimed happily with a bright smile, “Yeah, it was lotsa fun!!” Sehun nodded in agreement.
Linda chuckled. “Y’all seemed like a happy bunch. Joonmyeon and Yifan, I never thought you two would make excellent leaders. At first I was a bit iffy with having you two together as leaders for this group since we didn’t have any more female volunteers, but your chemistry,” she gave a knowing look to Joonmyeon and Yifan, “is remarkable. Seems like you guys had it all under control, from what I’ve heard from the other parents volunteering in your group.”
Joonmyeon heard Yifan chuckle when he felt an arm wrapped around his lower back. “What can I say?” Joonmyeon sneaked a glance at Yifan, trying hard not to blush at the contact and the gaze that Yifan had on him. “I’m glad he’s my partner, our personalities balance each other, and that’s a good thing.”
“Will we expect an engagement soon?” Zitao’s mother teased playfully. “And a wedding?”
That slapped Joonmyeon in the face, or more like, in the face that was flaming red due to mortification. On the other hand, the comment left Yifan nonplussed, and that even made Joonmyeon stare at him with an appalled look. The ladies cackled, but Yifan gave an airy chuckle, not quite taking the comment seriously. Joonmyeon still registered the arm around his lower waist, and was too speechless to even tell Yifan to move his arm.
“Honey, don’t give Yifan ideas yet. You’re also scaring Joonmyeon; look at him, the poor child. Also, what of your children, Mrs. Huang and Mrs. Oh? Don’t be giving them ideas yet, they’re still young.” Linda indicated to the kids that were looking up, confused. Sehun and Zitao were playing with each other during the whole conversation, until they heard their last names being called. The ladies giggled and apologized, and the two leaders forgave them good-naturedly.
“Now, you two go on ahead, go on home. You’re done for the day. I know it’s been a long morning taking care of the kids and you two are so brave. Thank you so much, Joonmyeon and Yifan.”
“You’re welcome, Linda,” both Yifan and Joonmyeon said in unison before they each said goodbye to Zitao, Sehun and their mothers. Just then, both Sehun and Zitao ran up to Joonmyeon and gave him a hug around the knees.
“Will Sehunnie see Shoonmyeonnie tomorrow?” Sehun looked up at Joonmyeon with puppy dog eyes. Joonmyeon beamed at him, his heart softening by the seconds.
“Yup!”
Contented with the answer, Sehun surprised the leaders by pulling away from Joonmyeon and going over to Yifan, doing the same to him as he did with Joonmyeon.
He looked up to meet Yifan’s questioning gaze. “Sehunnie still like Ipannie. Ipannie is tall and big. A nice, pwenny jant.”
A nice what? Joonmyeon shared a confused look with Linda and the mothers. Yifan however smiled.
“I’m a friendly giant, huh, Sehunnie?”
What…Yifan got that just like that? Joonmyeon raised his eyebrows in surprise. Even the ladies were surprised too.
“Mhm!” Sehun nodded happily as he pulled away from the hug. Yifan lowered down to his knees to meet with Sehun’s eye level.
“You’re a cute kid, with a big heart. Thanks, Sehun-ah. We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay!” Sehun then hugged Yifan around the neck, definitely catching Yifan off guard. After a few moments to recover, Yifan chuckled and hugged back before they pulled away.
“Well, darned if I’ll be, but you’d make a great father, Yifan.”
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“Where are you heading to now?”
Yifan and Joonmyeon were walking to the parking lot outside the school, having just left the cafeteria after parting with the kids, their mothers and Linda, when Yifan popped the question.
“Uhm…back home to my apartment.”
“You walking?”
“No no, thank goodness,” Joonmyeon laughed as his eyes disappeared behind his eyelids. “I take the bus.”
“…Really? Wow. That far?”
Joonmyeon shrugged. “Not too far, so it’s quite convenient.”
“I suppose…” The taller male trailed off, lost in thought.
The shorter male glanced up at Yifan.
“What about you?”
“Me? Oh, I drive. My car. From home...Yeah.”
Joonmyeon snickered at the way Yifan was speaking in a staccato manner. Yifan then stared at him for some time before he looked down quickly at his watch.
“Listen, can I offer you a ride? Wait no, okay.” Yifan shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Do you…Would you…I don’t know, do you wanna hang out today? You know, get to know each other better after a morning like that. I mean…if you’re not busy.” He shrugged.
“O-oh…”
“…oh?” Yifan slightly grimaced.
“I mean, yeah, yeah! Sure, I’d love to. Hang out. With you. Yeah…” Darnit, I’m talking like how he did just a few minutes ago.
“Cool,” Yifan smirked. “Come on, my car’s this way.”
Joonmyeon followed Yifan to his car, and it was a nice, sleek blue car. The moment they got inside, Yifan asked him as he started up the ignition.
“Want some froyo?”
“What’s a froyo?”
“It’s frozen yogurt with their first syllables combined. Fro Yo.”
“Oh duh,” Joonmyeon facepalmed himself.
“Haha, Joonmyeon, you’re pretty cute.” The fair-skinned male felt a tinge of warmth on his cheeks under Yifan’s gaze. “You’ve never heard of it?”
“Nope, I’ve only had ice cream and soft-serve ones.”
“Oh yeah, froyo is something similar to soft-serve ice creams, by the way. Except you get way much more options in flavors.”
“Sounds good then!”
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The rest of the day was spent at the downtown plaza with some froyo (Yifan treated him) and talking about themselves a little more; to the park, just outside the plaza, where they strolled around and commented on whatever they see around them, often laughing and joking around; and back inside the same plaza that early evening to the movies (of Joonmyeon’s choice because it was still Yifan treating him).
“That wrestler dude was pretty nasty, scheming and all that stuff. And I don’t even wanna imagine all that hair.” Yifan snickered as he grimaced in disgust. “He could use some waxing.”
“Nooo, Yifan. Stop!” Joonmyeon howled with laughter inside the car. “You’re gonna give me stitches already, I swear…”
“Or do you mean, ‘underwear’?” Yifan briefly winked at him before looking at the road, chortling.
Joonmyeon facepalmed before he burst out laughing once again from second-hand embarrassment of his friend. “Why did you even…Yifan,” he scolded with a playful tone.
A moment passed before Joonmyeon brought up another comment.
“Agnes was such a darling throughout the whole movie. She’s freaking adorable.”
“I agree. My heart just melted for her when she recited her lines at the wedding.”
Joonmyeon chuckled before he remembered an antic Agnes used to do in the first movie. Sitting up in his seat, he turned to face Yifan.
“Does this count as annoying?” Slightly opening his mouth, he then lightly patted his cheeks while clicking with his tongue to let out some weird clucking sounds. Upon hearing the question, Yifan took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look sideways at Joonmyeon, who was unaware he was putting on an aegyo show with the cute expressions he was pulling on his face.
“No, it counts as endearing in my dictionary.” Yifan looked away with a smile.
That made Joonmyeon froze in his tracks. He lowered his hands, his mouth gaping at the comment.
Feeling a bit shy, he sunk back into his seat and watched the road scene in front of him as they enter Joonmyeon’s apartment area.
“So do I make a right turn here?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah…yeah…turn right here. My apartment’s near the corner.”
Once Yifan parked his car in front of Joonmyeon’s apartment complex, Yifan started getting out of the car. It almost puzzled Joonmyeon at first, as he was expecting that he would be the one to get out of the car and not Yifan. But he took it in stride and got out of the car as well.
“It’s a pretty nice area you live here…” Yifan whistled.
“Th-thanks.” Joonmyeon did not know why he was stuttering all of a sudden or why his body was almost shaking in anticipation that something was about to happen.
“I’ll walk you to your door.”
Joonmyeon looked up sharply at Yifan, to his apartment, and back. He hoped that he was not blushing. “Oh! Er…that wouldn’t b-“
“That would be necessary for me,” Yifan interrupted with a sly smirk on his face. He placed an arm on Joonmyeon’s shoulders. “Come on, Joonie.”
The two of them walked a flight of outdoor stairs in comfortable silence before ending up right in front of Joonmyeon’s door. Joonmyeon had not realized that, while they were walking upstairs, Yifan had moved his arm, until he felt warmth enveloping his small hand. He had looked down to see that Yifan’s fingers had laced through his own.
His heart was pretty much hammering at this point.
Now, in front of his apartment door, Joonmyeon swung their hands gently as Yifan’s thumb lazily rubbed on Joonmyeon’s knuckles. The two of them stared at each other - Joonmyeon with a shy smile, Yifan with a content smile - In prolonged silence, not wanting to break it just yet.
“So…I had a great time today,” Joonmyeon sighed happily.
“Me too.”
“Thanks for everything today.” Despite smiling, the shorter male was feeling nervous under Yifan’s piercing gaze.
“No need. It was my pleasure that we could hang out after a busy morning.”
“Have a good night then, Yifan.”
“You too, Joonmyeon.”
But something in the air compelled both of them to not part just yet. There was something in store for them, for Joonmyeon especially, because their hands were still linked.
Joonmyeon gulped before wetting his lips. “…Yifan?”
“Hmm?” Yifan licked his lips.
“…Was this all…an impromptu date?” Joonmyeon swore his heart had skipped a few beats as he continued to drown in Yifan’s honey eyes.
What he got in response was his hand being lifted to meet with Yifan’s slightly moist lips ever so gently yet firm.
“What do you think?”
Author: tikibuddy91
Genre: General, Fluff? (omg idek),
Pairing: KrisHo, Kaisoo
Rating: G
Word Count: 5470
Summary: Continuation from Into the Chair, Into the Ground, and Into the Earth's Mantle, and The Competition. The linked fics talked about kids at the camp that Yifan and Joonmyeon are volunteering at. This is what happens after that. LOL.... and it's not done yet.
“Alright, so now we’re gonna go to the music workshop…” Yifan muttered to Joonmyeon before he glanced over to the kids around them. “Think they’ll be paying attention in there?”
A weak shrug.
“Same here… It’s supposed to have instruments, if I recall from last year. I hope none of them will be fragile this year.” Yifan stood up before extending a hand to Joonmyeon.
Joonmyeon eyed him warily as he accepted his hand to stand up. He was wondering why Yifan would say that with such a serious tone in his voice. “Thanks.”
A smile.
“Er… Did…someone break something last year?”
“Not from this group last year, no. It was from one of the middle school groups. The instructor last year was forgiving about it, thank goodness. But the poor kid cried and didn’t want to participate in the next day during the music workshop. Speaking of which, he might be here again.” Yifan scanned the assembly for the kid from where he stood. Unfortunately, it was just too crowded, with so many people trying to get out of the assembly to go to their first workshops of the morning.
“Ahh, there’s too many; maybe later today, during lunch. Anyway, let’s get going. Workshop’s in five minutes. Come on, follow us, kids! Parents, come with us, too!”
His attention now to the kids, Joonmyeon started calling out some of the kids’ names to get their attentions to fall in line and follow Yifan and him to their music workshop. Unable to resist, he searched for Sehun, who held hands with Zitao as the two kids waved Luhan goodbye. He smiled and was about to call them too, when they turned and caught up with their group. Joonmyeon noticed Sehun had looked up, looking for someone when their eyes met, and he was met with Sehun’s gleaming eyes and an adorable wave of a hand.
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The first workshop went unexpectedly smooth; it was not quiet, of course, but the noise level was comfortable, due to the aid of parents shushing, with Joonmyeon and Yifan, to the kids. Sehun and Zitao were among the attentive students of the group.
(By attentive, at least they were not running around the classroom hyperactively and touching things that they should not be touching.)
When the group paired up in twos, Sehun automatically scooted close to Zitao and shoved out others who would try to pair up with him.
“No! I don’t want! Sheeto and Sehun! Sheeto and Sehun!” Sehun was practically glaring at the other kids. “MINE!”
“Boys, I have a drum for you~” The instructor cooed to the toddlers to quell the squabble. “For Zitao and Sehun!”
Joonmyeon and Yifan watched in amusement when the two now quiet kids marveled upon receiving a single, big toy drum and two sticks. They switched the drumsticks with each other a few times before settling with their own stick. They were among the few that had drums to play; the other pairs had maracas or little horns.
When the music started playing from the boom box, Joonmyeon was the first to clap to the rhythm and Yifan followed suit, watching him with a smile on his face. Soon, the parents joined in and the kids started playing with their instruments.
Alas, the kids are still young, so no one could find it in their hearts to criticize them for playing offbeat to the music, and making strange tunes. At least everyone was having fun.
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The second workshop was a disaster, a beautiful disaster.
How it all started was that fortunately, the workshop took place in the shaded outdoor area, the kids had large bibs that prevent their clothes from getting dirty, and the kids had large paintbrushes. Cleanup would be easy…but not when there were spilled paint cups and water splashes on the tables, on some papers, and unused paper towels.
A few of the kids had their own parents supervising them, so that left Sehun, Zitao and eight other kids unsupervised. However, the parents were willing to supervise one more kid each, so it left Sehun, Zitao, and two other kids.
Sehun and Zitao had lured Joonmyeon and Yifan respectively with their puppy eyes and pouting lips, leaving one of the two instructors with the remaining two kids. It was not coincidence that Zitao and Sehun sat next to each other the moment the painting workshop started.
When Joonmyeon and Yifan came to sit next to their own supervising kid, they would watch them as they paint, sometimes helping them out with cleaning the paintbrushes or drying up wet splashes outside of the painting papers. Both Zitao and Sehun were happily painting their artwork when Yifan sneaked a chance to take a small paintbrush and paint a green stripe on a blank space of Sehun’s paper.
It happened so sudden and Joonmyeon’s eyes widened at the quick action. Joonmyeon stared accusingly at Yifan, mouthing to him, “What was that for?” Yifan winked at him and shrugged with a playful smirk. Joonmyeon observed the painting with held breath, and the obvious green stripe that could not pass for an accidental stroke of a brush.
Sehun had stopped mid-painting when he noticed Yifan had painted a green stripe on his paper with a rainbow on it. The poor kid stared at it for a few moments before slowly looking up at a grinning Yifan, with no expression at all. He unconsciously dropped his paintbrush onto his paper.
Joonmyeon nervously looked between Sehun and Yifan as a few more moments had passed without either side saying anything. Yifan, at first, was a bit amused because of Sehun’s lack of reaction, but the longer Sehun stared at him with that unexpressive look, the less funny Yifan feels, and slowly, Yifan’s smile sinks down to a frown.
Meanwhile, Zitao had briefly stopped what he was working on, looking between Yifan and Sehun as he caught on what seemed to be going on.
“S…Se-Sehun-ah, I’m sorry that I messed up your painting. It was wrong of me to do that,” Yifan softly spoke to Sehun, his eyes never leaving the toddler’s. Sehun continued to stare at him.
“Can you forgive me?”
No answer.
Under the heavy gaze of the toddler, Yifan decided to take a small damp paper towel and try to erase off the stripe.
The paint already dried. Yifan winced.
“Uh…does Sehunnie still like Yifannie-hyung?”
Almost towards the end of Yifan’s question, the toddler suddenly turned away to hug Joonmyeon, or at least wrap his arms around Joonmyeon’s neck, no longer wanting to do anything with his painting. Though a bit taken aback from Sehun’s action, Joonmyeon shot an exasperated look at Yifan for his inconsiderable behavior earlier. Yifan mouthed silently, “Sorry” with one hand rubbing his nape.
“Sehun-ah…”
Yifan received no answer. He glanced around the area, and he could see some parents watching them with concern. They apparently did not know about what just happened, so he smiled back, assuring them that everything is okay at the moment.
“Y-yah…Sehun-ah… Sehunnie… Yifan-hyung’s really sorry about painting the green stripe.” The tall male caressed Sehun’s head with an apologetic look on his face.
Sehun finally reacted with a quiet, annoyed grunt and shrugging Yifan’s hand off his head. He dug his head deeper against Joonmyeon’s neck.
Joonmyeon had to refrain from giggling at his friend’s predicament, as the tall man was looking aghast. Zitao had gone back to his painting and continued his work.
“Yah,” Yifan gently tapped Sehun’s shoulder with his hand. “…Yah, does Sehunnie still like me? Does Sehunnie still like Yifannie-hyung? I’m sorry for hurting your feelings.”
Sehun did not budge; Joonmyeon did not feel any wetness on his neck. The fair-skinned leader assumed that Sehun must felt like he just wanted to be held right now, as he sensed the kid adjusting his head to be comfortable on his shoulder. Imagining Sehun to be pouting, Joonmyeon sighed and allowed Sehun to be held in his arms for a while.
“Sehun-ah,” Joonmyeon crooned, “Yifan-hyung said he was sorry. Do you forgive him? Do you still like him?”
Joonmyeon and Yifan waited a few seconds, as the latter casted worrying glances between Sehun and his partner. Joonmyeon felt a soft nod against his neck.
“You’re okay,” Joonmyeon mouthed to Yifan with a soft smile. Yifan visibly sagged his shoulders in relief and lifted a hand to rub Sehun’s back.
Just then, there was a soft clatter as Zitao had placed his paintbrush in the cup and picked up his finished work.
“Sehunniiieee!”
Joonmyeon felt Sehun’s head move on his shoulders, and Sehun slowly pulled away from him. Sehun was staring at the floor, not looking neither at Zitao nor the painting that was being held up in front of him.
“Sehunnie, look!” Rustle rustle. Zitao was slightly shaking his paper to get his friend’s attention.
Sehun made eye contact with his beaming friend before he looked at the painting. It was utter chaos of red, yellow, purple, and green. There were no traces of blue, orange, brown or black color on the paper. Neither Joonmyeon nor Yifan could make out what the painting was supposed to be, but it could definitely pass as an abstract art.
“For you!”
Zitao handed his paintwork to Sehun. Sehun’s eyes slightly widened at Zitao’s generous act. The Korean toddler glanced up and down between Zitao and the artwork, before he reluctantly accepted his gift.
Zitao giggled and patted Sehun’s head. “I can paint another one. You keep that! Keep, okay??” He took Sehun’s head in his hands and said, more to himself, “’Thank you, Towie!’ You’re welcome, Sehunnie!”
Joonmyeon and Yifan stared at each other, at loss for words, while Zitao painted another messy painting. Sehun did not do anything else but stare at his gift in his hands and mumble nonsense to Joonmyeon, his artwork left forgotten on the table.
(When it was time for their group to move to the next workshop, Yifan decided to take it with him, in case Sehun might change his mind and want it as well.)
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If Zitao’s painting was any indication of how chaotic things could be, the games workshop was a sure sign of how crazy things went when there are little kids, an outdoor space, and a game of tag.
When the game instructor explained to the group that they have to stick in pairs, Zitao immediately grabbed Sehun’s hand, while the others paired up randomly; the two kids stuck like glue throughout the whole workshop. All the kids were squealing excitedly and running energetically as they played a long game of tag around the area, surrounded by the instructors, parents, Joonmyeon and Yifan.
Yifan thought it was fun watching the kids play tag, so he decided he could join in and play with the kids. As Yifan casually stepped inside the circled area, Joonmyeon gaped at him with widened eyes, because the male was freaking tall and the kids were freaking small.
It’s like Jack versus the Giant…except about two-dozen of Jacks.
“W-wait, Yif-…”
“AAHHHHH!!!”
“Phbbbtt!” Joonmyeon let out a weird noise, blowing raspberry with his lips, as he watched in awed amusement at the scene in front of him.
The kids refused to go near Yifan, or allow him to get near. They would immediately scramble to their parents and instructors, hiding behind them and squealing with glee.
It was such a hilarious sight for the parents, the instructors and Joonmyeon to see: Yifan standing alone in the middle of the circle. The shorter leader cackled with no sympathy towards Yifan, as the latter often looked back at him with pouting lips.
He was not ready when Yifan suddenly walked up to him and took his hand.
“Whoa whoa whoa, wait what are you doing, Yifan? Wait!”
It was no use stopping Yifan as he dragged Joonmyeon into the circled area and made him as a peace offering to the kids. Smirking to himself, Yifan quickly made his way back to join in line with the parents and instructors supervising the game. The kids suddenly gathered round the shorter male, and as soon as one kid - Zitao - touched him with a squeal of “You’re it”, the kids ran around like crazy.
Joonmyeon put on a mockingly whiny behavior at the kids. They giggled while some dared to go up to him and prod his panted legs with their tiny hands as quickly as they can without being tagged. Joonmyeon just stood there, watching his group with a shake of his head and an amused look. He glanced up at Yifan, standing where Joonmyeon himself last stood on, and shot a playful annoyed look. Yifan stuck out a tongue in retaliation. Joonmyeon shook his head and attempted to pretend not to acknowledge his tall partner’s presence throughout the game.
He failed, of course, because no one could ignore a giant.
Every time Joonmyeon sneaked a chance to glimpse at Yifan while he ran to get some kids, his heart skipped a beat before he looked away. He could tell Yifan was looking his way, and from those fleeting moments that he made eye contact with the tall male, he could see Yifan’s faint smile and his intense gaze that spoke more than just admiration. He could even feel his gaze on him wherever he went.
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Lunch went by pretty quick but busy, as every kid from all the grades, every volunteer, and every parent volunteer gathered in the cafeteria, where they had the general assembly that morning, to help themselves. Joonmyeon and Yifan reunited with Kyungsoo, Jongin, Sunyoung, and Soojung; their groups of kids were mixed around in the cafeteria, as some had met new friends and some had met up with their siblings or friends.
As Joonmyeon and Yifan had been chatting with Kyungsoo and the others, they heard a squeal near Joonmyeon. It turned out to belong to Sehun’s voice, in which Luhan was tickling his younger brother.
“Sehun seems like an endearing kid,” Kyungsoo commented after the group watched the Oh brothers for a few moments. “He took a liking to you guys, hyungs…especially you, Joonmyeon-hyung.” He smiled as he recalled earlier in the beginning of lunch when Sehun was sticking to Joonmyeon like glue as the two of them walked by the table that was serving up their lunches. Sehun had gotten excited when he saw small cups of homemade bubble tea; he had grabbed Joonmyeon’s hand by the finger and pulled Joonmyeon to the cups, but Joonmyeon chuckled and told him to wait his turn as they were in line. Sehun had quickly obeyed and waited, keeping a watchful eye on one of the cups, until they finally got their turns, and Sehun was overjoyed at having bubble tea in his hands.
“Yeah, although, he’s been kind of distant with you, Yifan-hyung… This morning, he was like sticking to you as if you were some magnet, but now, it’s not the same. Did something happen within the workshops?”
Yifan paled as an answer, while Joonmyeon nodded gently with a soft chuckle.
“Let’s not talk about it. What I did was immature. He forgave me for that. End of story.”
“O-oh…” Kyungsoo sounded like he was still curious about it, but he dropped the subject.
“Ah! Yifan-hyung, were you gonna show me that kid who broke the instrument?” Joonmyeon asked between the chewing of his tempura sushi.
“Oh yeah,” Yifan straightened up and scanned the tables. “There he is, Zhang Yixing. The one with the dimples.”
Joonmyeon looked over to where Yifan was pointing. The kid was spacing out, his lunch halfway eaten. Then, all of a sudden, his body does a little jerk and Yixing looked to his right, looking at some kid before he grinned and replied back to something the kid must have said.
“Ahem, may I have your attention, please?”
Joonmyeon, Yifan, the group leaders, the parent volunteers and some of the kids heard the voice of Linda booming through the cafeteria with an aid of the microphone. The kids were still rowdy and chatting, not quite registering the request. Within seconds, the whole cafeteria became quiet and focused on the woman onstage.
“Lunch will be done in a few minutes, and I would like to ask for the Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners to stay here in the cafeteria, but gather closer to the stage in the open space. The rest of you children will go on to the rest of your workshop schedules. The little ones will be going home early, so we would like to hold a small assembly for them before they go, okay?” Joonmyeon and Yifan heard their group cheering in response and they smiled. Linda chuckled. “Okay, we have five more minutes and then I’m gonna ask the leaders of the 1st to 12th grade students to go to their workshops.
“Remember, Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners, stay here when lunch is done. Mr. Joonmyeon and Mr. Yifan,” Joonmyeon and Yifan were quick to receive Linda’s authoritative stare when their names were called, “please make sure they know they are not going home yet; we still have a small assembly for them. Thank you.”
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In the small break that was given for the older kids to go to their workshops, Joonmyeon took roll call of the kids in his group to make sure everyone was here. Yifan meanwhile had returned some of the artworks to the kids. When he had given Zitao’s present and Sehun’s own artwork to Sehun, Sehun quietly accepted them, not quite meeting the tall male’s eyes. Yifan had supposed Sehun might still be a little hurt from the incident in the painting workshop, so he just ruffled Sehun’s head gently. Zitao, on the other hand, had thanked Yifan when he received his work and gave him a hug before he pulled away, and sat down with Sehun, placing an arm around his friend’s shoulders.
The assembly was really short, as it was just a few songs to sing along and some announcements for the parents to take note. The moment the assembly started, the parents that were not volunteering at the workshop, including Sehun’s mother, had entered without the kids knowing. Yifan and Joonmyeon watched with knowing smirks while the kids were engrossed with singing songs.
When it was time for the announcements, most of the kids became restless and some were still unaware that their parents were standing in the back of the cafeteria. Even Zitao and Sehun were not aware, for they were lost in their own world, giggling and playing some hand games.
“And now we have some of your mommies and daddies here in the cafeteria, ready and happy to take you home! Come on closer, mommies and daddies! Children, go to your parents!”
There was a sudden loud burst of gleeful yelling as the parents faced a stampede of children with their artworks in hand.
Joonmyeon and Yifan laughed at the sight, unable to resist the smiles on their faces. Soon afterwards, they were met with parents and their kids as they received “thank you”s and “see you tomorrow”s.
“Mama, Shoonmyeon! Shoonmyeon!”
Joonmyeon and Yifan turned to where they heard Sehun calling out Joonmyeon’s name. They saw him leading his mother over to them, with Zitao and his mom trailing behind. After some introductions and conversations were made between the mothers and the two leaders, Linda came over to the boys, the seven of them being the only remaining ones in the cafeteria.
“Children, I hope your first day went well. This goes out to both you fine young men and you adorable little kids.”
Zitao exclaimed happily with a bright smile, “Yeah, it was lotsa fun!!” Sehun nodded in agreement.
Linda chuckled. “Y’all seemed like a happy bunch. Joonmyeon and Yifan, I never thought you two would make excellent leaders. At first I was a bit iffy with having you two together as leaders for this group since we didn’t have any more female volunteers, but your chemistry,” she gave a knowing look to Joonmyeon and Yifan, “is remarkable. Seems like you guys had it all under control, from what I’ve heard from the other parents volunteering in your group.”
Joonmyeon heard Yifan chuckle when he felt an arm wrapped around his lower back. “What can I say?” Joonmyeon sneaked a glance at Yifan, trying hard not to blush at the contact and the gaze that Yifan had on him. “I’m glad he’s my partner, our personalities balance each other, and that’s a good thing.”
“Will we expect an engagement soon?” Zitao’s mother teased playfully. “And a wedding?”
That slapped Joonmyeon in the face, or more like, in the face that was flaming red due to mortification. On the other hand, the comment left Yifan nonplussed, and that even made Joonmyeon stare at him with an appalled look. The ladies cackled, but Yifan gave an airy chuckle, not quite taking the comment seriously. Joonmyeon still registered the arm around his lower waist, and was too speechless to even tell Yifan to move his arm.
“Honey, don’t give Yifan ideas yet. You’re also scaring Joonmyeon; look at him, the poor child. Also, what of your children, Mrs. Huang and Mrs. Oh? Don’t be giving them ideas yet, they’re still young.” Linda indicated to the kids that were looking up, confused. Sehun and Zitao were playing with each other during the whole conversation, until they heard their last names being called. The ladies giggled and apologized, and the two leaders forgave them good-naturedly.
“Now, you two go on ahead, go on home. You’re done for the day. I know it’s been a long morning taking care of the kids and you two are so brave. Thank you so much, Joonmyeon and Yifan.”
“You’re welcome, Linda,” both Yifan and Joonmyeon said in unison before they each said goodbye to Zitao, Sehun and their mothers. Just then, both Sehun and Zitao ran up to Joonmyeon and gave him a hug around the knees.
“Will Sehunnie see Shoonmyeonnie tomorrow?” Sehun looked up at Joonmyeon with puppy dog eyes. Joonmyeon beamed at him, his heart softening by the seconds.
“Yup!”
Contented with the answer, Sehun surprised the leaders by pulling away from Joonmyeon and going over to Yifan, doing the same to him as he did with Joonmyeon.
He looked up to meet Yifan’s questioning gaze. “Sehunnie still like Ipannie. Ipannie is tall and big. A nice, pwenny jant.”
A nice what? Joonmyeon shared a confused look with Linda and the mothers. Yifan however smiled.
“I’m a friendly giant, huh, Sehunnie?”
What…Yifan got that just like that? Joonmyeon raised his eyebrows in surprise. Even the ladies were surprised too.
“Mhm!” Sehun nodded happily as he pulled away from the hug. Yifan lowered down to his knees to meet with Sehun’s eye level.
“You’re a cute kid, with a big heart. Thanks, Sehun-ah. We’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay!” Sehun then hugged Yifan around the neck, definitely catching Yifan off guard. After a few moments to recover, Yifan chuckled and hugged back before they pulled away.
“Well, darned if I’ll be, but you’d make a great father, Yifan.”
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“Where are you heading to now?”
Yifan and Joonmyeon were walking to the parking lot outside the school, having just left the cafeteria after parting with the kids, their mothers and Linda, when Yifan popped the question.
“Uhm…back home to my apartment.”
“You walking?”
“No no, thank goodness,” Joonmyeon laughed as his eyes disappeared behind his eyelids. “I take the bus.”
“…Really? Wow. That far?”
Joonmyeon shrugged. “Not too far, so it’s quite convenient.”
“I suppose…” The taller male trailed off, lost in thought.
The shorter male glanced up at Yifan.
“What about you?”
“Me? Oh, I drive. My car. From home...Yeah.”
Joonmyeon snickered at the way Yifan was speaking in a staccato manner. Yifan then stared at him for some time before he looked down quickly at his watch.
“Listen, can I offer you a ride? Wait no, okay.” Yifan shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Do you…Would you…I don’t know, do you wanna hang out today? You know, get to know each other better after a morning like that. I mean…if you’re not busy.” He shrugged.
“O-oh…”
“…oh?” Yifan slightly grimaced.
“I mean, yeah, yeah! Sure, I’d love to. Hang out. With you. Yeah…” Darnit, I’m talking like how he did just a few minutes ago.
“Cool,” Yifan smirked. “Come on, my car’s this way.”
Joonmyeon followed Yifan to his car, and it was a nice, sleek blue car. The moment they got inside, Yifan asked him as he started up the ignition.
“Want some froyo?”
“What’s a froyo?”
“It’s frozen yogurt with their first syllables combined. Fro Yo.”
“Oh duh,” Joonmyeon facepalmed himself.
“Haha, Joonmyeon, you’re pretty cute.” The fair-skinned male felt a tinge of warmth on his cheeks under Yifan’s gaze. “You’ve never heard of it?”
“Nope, I’ve only had ice cream and soft-serve ones.”
“Oh yeah, froyo is something similar to soft-serve ice creams, by the way. Except you get way much more options in flavors.”
“Sounds good then!”
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The rest of the day was spent at the downtown plaza with some froyo (Yifan treated him) and talking about themselves a little more; to the park, just outside the plaza, where they strolled around and commented on whatever they see around them, often laughing and joking around; and back inside the same plaza that early evening to the movies (of Joonmyeon’s choice because it was still Yifan treating him).
“That wrestler dude was pretty nasty, scheming and all that stuff. And I don’t even wanna imagine all that hair.” Yifan snickered as he grimaced in disgust. “He could use some waxing.”
“Nooo, Yifan. Stop!” Joonmyeon howled with laughter inside the car. “You’re gonna give me stitches already, I swear…”
“Or do you mean, ‘underwear’?” Yifan briefly winked at him before looking at the road, chortling.
Joonmyeon facepalmed before he burst out laughing once again from second-hand embarrassment of his friend. “Why did you even…Yifan,” he scolded with a playful tone.
A moment passed before Joonmyeon brought up another comment.
“Agnes was such a darling throughout the whole movie. She’s freaking adorable.”
“I agree. My heart just melted for her when she recited her lines at the wedding.”
Joonmyeon chuckled before he remembered an antic Agnes used to do in the first movie. Sitting up in his seat, he turned to face Yifan.
“Does this count as annoying?” Slightly opening his mouth, he then lightly patted his cheeks while clicking with his tongue to let out some weird clucking sounds. Upon hearing the question, Yifan took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look sideways at Joonmyeon, who was unaware he was putting on an aegyo show with the cute expressions he was pulling on his face.
“No, it counts as endearing in my dictionary.” Yifan looked away with a smile.
That made Joonmyeon froze in his tracks. He lowered his hands, his mouth gaping at the comment.
Feeling a bit shy, he sunk back into his seat and watched the road scene in front of him as they enter Joonmyeon’s apartment area.
“So do I make a right turn here?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah…yeah…turn right here. My apartment’s near the corner.”
Once Yifan parked his car in front of Joonmyeon’s apartment complex, Yifan started getting out of the car. It almost puzzled Joonmyeon at first, as he was expecting that he would be the one to get out of the car and not Yifan. But he took it in stride and got out of the car as well.
“It’s a pretty nice area you live here…” Yifan whistled.
“Th-thanks.” Joonmyeon did not know why he was stuttering all of a sudden or why his body was almost shaking in anticipation that something was about to happen.
“I’ll walk you to your door.”
Joonmyeon looked up sharply at Yifan, to his apartment, and back. He hoped that he was not blushing. “Oh! Er…that wouldn’t b-“
“That would be necessary for me,” Yifan interrupted with a sly smirk on his face. He placed an arm on Joonmyeon’s shoulders. “Come on, Joonie.”
The two of them walked a flight of outdoor stairs in comfortable silence before ending up right in front of Joonmyeon’s door. Joonmyeon had not realized that, while they were walking upstairs, Yifan had moved his arm, until he felt warmth enveloping his small hand. He had looked down to see that Yifan’s fingers had laced through his own.
His heart was pretty much hammering at this point.
Now, in front of his apartment door, Joonmyeon swung their hands gently as Yifan’s thumb lazily rubbed on Joonmyeon’s knuckles. The two of them stared at each other - Joonmyeon with a shy smile, Yifan with a content smile - In prolonged silence, not wanting to break it just yet.
“So…I had a great time today,” Joonmyeon sighed happily.
“Me too.”
“Thanks for everything today.” Despite smiling, the shorter male was feeling nervous under Yifan’s piercing gaze.
“No need. It was my pleasure that we could hang out after a busy morning.”
“Have a good night then, Yifan.”
“You too, Joonmyeon.”
But something in the air compelled both of them to not part just yet. There was something in store for them, for Joonmyeon especially, because their hands were still linked.
Joonmyeon gulped before wetting his lips. “…Yifan?”
“Hmm?” Yifan licked his lips.
“…Was this all…an impromptu date?” Joonmyeon swore his heart had skipped a few beats as he continued to drown in Yifan’s honey eyes.
What he got in response was his hand being lifted to meet with Yifan’s slightly moist lips ever so gently yet firm.
“What do you think?”