EXO Academy: The Kinkas and The Newbies

25

"You and Jongdae would make a great couple." Tao said as he walked with Minseok to a cafe.

"That's quite random Tao." Minseok replied maintaining his calm appearance despite being flustered on the inside.

"Think about it! You guys were cute when you were resting your head on his shoulder. Plus, he cares about you and I'm sure you care about him too!"

"Even if that were true, I don't have to guts to confess to anyone."

"He could be the one! Knowing that he likes you back means no possibility of rejection."

"We don't know if he likes me back though. And frankly, I doubt he does."

"All I hear is denial."

"Oh look! We're at the cafe. Let's go inside and see what they have on the menu. I heard their affogato is really good here." Minseok quickly walked in, ending the conversation, causing Tao to roll his eyes.

"May I get one affogato? And a slice of coffee roll cake please."

"I'll have a vanilla latte and a slice of lemon pound cake."

After Minseok paid and the two sat down with their food, Tao brought up the topic again knowing Minseok couldn't escape it this time.

"So hypothetically, if Jongdae were to confess to you, you would say yes?"

"And what gives you that notion?"

"Well, you like him. So if he confessed to you, it would only make sense that you would say yes."

"..."

"..."

"...okay maybe I would... but the probability of that happening is very low anyway."

"Hey look! There's Jongdae right now!"

"WHAT?"

"Maybe he can join us! Hey Jongdae!"

"Dear lord, can this booth swallow me whole?"

Jongdae looked over when he heard his name being called and was met with Tao waving him over and Minseok burying his head in his arms. He gave them a smile to acknowledge them and signaled that he'd come over after he got his drink. Tao nodded beaming while Minseok hadn't moved from his previous position. Jongdae thought it was adorable. He quickly grabbed the tray with his order and walked over to the two, sitting next to a flustered Minseok.

"Hey Tao. Minseok...? Are you okay?"

"Yup... just peAcHy."

"Uhhhh okay...?? Anyway, what are you guys up to today?"

"Minseok and I are about to go shopping. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol needed some groceries but we're going to the mall first. Just cuz we can."

"Hm. Why didn't they tell me when I said I was going out? Ugh they always leave me out of the loop. Anyway, did you guys drive or walk here?"

"We took the bus and then walked because Tao wanted to... even though he complained about it being a long walk 5 minutes in."

"It felt like 5 hours okay!"

"Oh well, why don't I come to help you guys with shopping? I drove my car so it would be easier anyway."

"Are you sure? Don't you have some plans or anything?"

"Don't worry too much Minseokie! I just went out because I didn't want to stay home all day."

Minseok nodded and Jongdae flashed him a big smile making the older flustered. Tao sent Minseok a knowing look and Minseok sent the younger a death glare. Jongdae stared at the two confused but just took a bite of his cookie.

"Jongdae? What would you do if you had a crush on someone?" Tao asked catching the other two off guard.

"Why? Do you have a crush on somebody?" Jongdae asked in return, watching as Tao's face began turning pink.

"I don't." Tao stated.

"That blush is saying otherwise." Jongdae pointed out making Minseok look over and raise an eyebrow.

"That's not important. What would you do?"

"Personally, it would depend. But the first thing I can think of is confessing."

"Even if they might reject you?" Minseok asked.

"Well, yeah. The way I see it, if you know they don't like you, you can move on to liking someone else. Someone who might like you back." Jongdae shrugged.

"That's... fair." Minseok nodded before getting up with his empty plate and cup."Let's start heading to the mall. We'll still need to go to the grocery store and we don't want to stay out too late."

Jongdae and Tao agreed so the three got up and threw away their trash before getting into Jongdae's car and driving to the mall. The three wandered numerous stores for a while before Tao broke off from the group to look at some clothes.

"So Minseokkie, do you have anything you want to look at?"

"Not really, we can just wander and see what pops up."

Shortly after Jongdae nodded in agreement, Minseok suddenly halted. He stared at a pair of earrings. One of the earrings was a golden chain with a music note attached to the bottom while the other earring was a simple stud in the shape of a microphone.

"These are cute. Do you like them?" Jongdae asked peering over Minseok's shoulder making the older slightly flustered.

"Yeah... but they're too expensive."

Minseok sighed as he walked away after taking a look at the price tag attached to the earrings. Jongdae looked back at the earrings before telling the worker to stow those earrings away for a little bit.

He had a plan.

Afterward, Jongdae ran to catch up to Minseok who was window shopping again. Jongdae just needed a few minutes to go and buy the earrings.

"Jongdae? I'm heading into the store. Are you coming?"

"I'll join you in a minute. I'm suddenly craving a lemonade."

"Alright. I'll be here."

Jongdae nodded and watched as Minseok walked into the store. He quickly walked back over to the jewelry store and told the worker to pull out the earrings again. Without wasting any time, Jongdae bought the earrings and stored the box in his coat pocket. When everything was said and done, he quickly bought lemonade to keep his cover and walked into the store. He saw Minseok waiting in line to pay for a few items of clothing and went to stand next to him.

"Tao said that he's done shopping for his stuff. Do you have anything you want to buy?" Minseok said when he saw Jongdae stop next to him.

"Nothing really. We can head to the grocery store after this if you're done."

"Okay. Let me text Tao then."

Once the three met back up, they all walked back to Jongdae's car where he let Tao stuff his bags into the trunk. Their shopping trip was short but chaotic when Tao wanted to buy a lot of candy (Minseok let him choose two). In addition, they had forgotten half of the things Kyungsoo and Chanyeol told them to get so Jongdae had to call them and clarify. It was sunset when the three arrived back at the house and dinner was prepared right there and then. When Minseok went to take a shower, Jongdae took it as an opening. He quietly walked into Minseok's room and took out the box of earrings from his pocket. He gently placed the box on the bed and slipped the card he wrote underneath. When he heard footsteps climbing the stairs, he quickly slipped out of the room before walking casually into his own room.

Now, all he could do was wait.

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A/N: ATEEZ FIRST WIN!!! ATEEZ FIRST WIN!!! ATEEZ FIRST WIN!!!!!!

~Admin Jin