Don't run away from me

ch. 18

// seokmin;

After Joshua's unexpected morning call, Seokmin felt charged with maximum energy. The two hours of sleep didn't matter at all; the boy felt full of life and happiness. He takes a quick shower, then changes and gets ready to go outside to take a walk and enjoy the weather. In his short walk, he doesn't even realize how his feet lead him to the neighborhood where Joshua lives, thinking of paying him a visit. He stops at the same store from last night and buys some breakfast items, convinced that Joshua hasn't eaten yet. At the checkout counter, he sees a bucket with a few flowers in it that remind him of the color on Joshua's cheeks, so he decides to buy a few of those (Dahlias, they are so pretty please search them). Exiting the store with full bags and the bouquet of flowers, Seokmin is hit by a wave of excitement, thrilled to see Joshua. As Seokmin climbs the stairs to the apartment, he starts to feel unsure, scared that he might be crossing a boundary, especially since it hasn't been long since Joshua gave him a chance and here he is showing up unannounced at the door with food and flowers. In his mind, it seems silly, being swept away by his emotions. He stands in front of the door, staring blankly at the flowers and the bags hanging from his other hand, troubled by the thought that Joshua might find him cringe or foolish. When he decides to turn around and leave, the apartment door opens and there stands Joshua, dressed in clothes too big for his body, with a towel around his neck and drying his wet hair.

"Seokminie?" The smile that appears on Joshua's face seems to light up the sparkle in his eyes, and Seokmin feels himself melting in a matter of seconds. "Why didn't you knock on the door?" Joshua leans against the doorframe, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Ah... well..." Seokmin turns around, making sure to hide the flowers behind his back and not attract too much attention. "I just arrived, I wanted to call you but you opened the door before. What are you up to? Were you going somewhere?"

"I was hungry and wanted to quickly run to the store to get something."

"I brought it!" Seokmin hurriedly says, raising the bags to Joshua's eye level.

"Oh wow, it means you can read my mind!" Joshua chuckles, taking the two bags and entering the house. "Aren't you coming?" he stops when he sees that Seokmin isn't following.

"What do you think about Dahlias?" Seokmin shifts the bouquet from one hand to another, too nervous to be able to offer it to Joshua.

Taken by surprise, Joshua stares at Seokmin for a moment, blinking frequently. After a long sigh, Seokmin steps into the house, now face to face with Joshua, closing the door behind them.

"When I was at the store earlier, I saw them and they reminded me of you. I hope you like them.." Seokmin reveals the bouquet, holding it up to Joshua's face, looking down because of how embarrassed he feels.

When he doesn't hear or feel any reaction from Joshua, he slowly raises his gaze only to notice that he was indeed right, and the color of the flowers really matched Joshua's cheeks. He smiles widely at the discovery, their eyes meeting, and Joshua seems to startle out of a trance.

"T-thank you." Joshua takes the flowers and abruptly turns his back to Seokmin, disappearing behind the kitchen door.

Seokmin smiles, and after taking off his shoes, he follows Joshua, finding him staring blankly at the flowers and smiling, while gently caressing them. Even the way he treated the flowers was absolutely adorable, and Seokmin couldn't take his eyes off Joshua for even a moment. To not startle him by secretly watching, Seokmin steps out of the kitchen and coughs to announce his presence. When he enters again, the flowers are already arranged in a tall glass with water, probably because they didn't have a vase in the house.

"What do you want to eat?" Joshua turns to Seokmin with an innocent smile.

"I got a little bit of everything, so whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me as long as we're together." Seokmin shrugs and starts unpacking the remaining groceries.

He feels his arm being strongly punched by Joshua, causing him to laugh even though it hurt. He looks at Joshua, who is terribly embarrassed, with red cheeks and the tips of his ears, but he tries to hide it behind a mask of indifference.

"It's too early for cheesy stuff, please shut up and let me at least have breakfast." Joshua gently pushes Seokmin to the side, and they both start laughing and unpacking the rest of the groceries.

They start cooking breakfast, with Joshua making an omelette and Seokmin preparing a salad with toasted bread. Seokmin suggests putting on some music, and the two of them sing along to the lyrics, filling the house with laughter and high and funny notes. They were already feeling comfortable in each other's presence and seemed to understand each other even in terms of musical tastes. Seokmin sets the table while Joshua brings the silverware, sitting together facing each other. They start eating, both with wide smiles on their faces that make it difficult for them to chew their food. While enjoying the delicious meal, Seokmin feels Joshua's foot touching his shin, slowly moving up from the bottom. When he looks up, Joshua is hiding behind the glass of orange juice, innocently sipping from it as if everything is fine and he didn't do anything. On the other hand, Seokmin feels his pulse rising, sensing the circulation in his body being set in motion and adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He tries his best to ignore the teasing and finish his meal, but the touches were becoming more tempting.

"Do you like the food, Seokminie?" Joshua's voice was harmonious and confident, knowing perfectly well the effect this playful behavior had on Seokmin.

Seokmin nods, without lifting his gaze from his plate, and no matter how much he wanted to control himself, at the end of the day, he was just a simple man, having a conversation with the person he had feelings for and who was touching him under the table. Joshua suddenly withdraws his foot, both of them startled when Joshua's roommate, Jihoon, appears at the door.

'Good morning!' Joshua's voice was like blooming and fragrant flowers.

Jihoon gives him a dry, emotionless look, then heads towards the table, causing Seokmin to panic incredibly and pull his chair further under the table, hiding whatever might have happened in his pants.

'What are you eating? I want some too.' Jihoon pulls out a chair, completely ignoring Seokmin's reaction.

'Oh, sure!' Joshua stands up and immediately gets a plate for Jihoon. 'I didn't know you came home.'

'I came this morning around 5.' Jihoon takes his chopsticks and starts eating.

Seokmin can't take it anymore. Adrenaline and anxiety make sweat beads form on his forehead, feeling like this was simply equivalent to torture.

'I'm going to the bathroom.' Seokmin suddenly and incredibly quickly stands up, running out of the room and hearing the two of them talking along the way.

'I think he wet himself.' Jihoon says, and Joshua starts laughing brightly.

Once in the bathroom, Seokmin locks the door, trying to control his accelerated breathing caused by the pounding of his heart in his chest, which surely wanted to split his chest open and escape. He tries to clear his mind of any thoughts, using the same meditation method he learned from Minghao. It was a terrible déjà vu.