patisserie d'amour | seungin | stray kids

7. brother-in-law

JEONGIN

Don't ask me how, but somehow we made it to college by 4:30. It was still dark outside and I was cold and sleepy, but it didn't stop the feeling of excitement that radiated from everyone waiting outside the campus for the bus to arrive. I take out my phone to send a text.

me:
i know you probably won't see this but im leaving for the trip soon
try not to miss me for the next 3 days ;)

Unexpectedly, three dots appear on the screen, indicating that he's typing something.

seungmo 🐶:
turn around

I turn around, and I freeze in my place when I see Seungmin standing in front of me holding a cover with a big smile.

"No fucking way," I say. "What are you doing here?"

"Just made a little something for you and your friends," he replies nonchalantly with a shrug. The 'little something' in question was a large cover filled to the brim with baked goods. "You guys are gonna starve during the trip and they probably won't even have anything good to eat, so keep these with you."

I tackle him in a hug, catching him off guard. "Thank you so much," I say, placing a kiss on his cheek. His eyes go wide, and if it wasn't dark I swear I could've seen him blush.

The bus sounds its horn, signaling its arrival. The professors start doing a roll call as everyone slowly makes their way to the bus. We break away from the hug.

"Alright then, it's time for you to leave. Stay safe and don't forget to message me once you reach!" He says, ruffling my hair. My heart beats fast and I feel a violent rush of butterflies in my stomach. It's usually me who initiates any sort of physical or verbal affection, so it meant a lot to me that he was doing it first. He waves as he sees me off.

"So when are you planning to tell us about this mystery guy you keep seeing? Are you guys dating?" Heeseung asks as I get inside.

"No, there's nothing. I don't think he even likes me," I reply casually, as if it didn't sting.

"No shit Sherlock, no one's going to stay up the whole night to make food for you unless they're really into you. These are still warm, see?" Beomgyu says, splitting a slice of brownie in half with Heeseung. I remember it to be the ones I kissed Seungmin's hands for. I look at them, both having a foodgasm from the first bite.

"Wife that man the fuck up. This is delicious!" Heeseung exclaims, diving into the box for another piece. I smile proudly as if I birthed those brownies myself.

"He's a guy, he can't be a wife," Beomgyu corrects him.

"Whatever, you get my point."

I have a piece for myself and realize once again that they're still warm, which must mean that Seungmin did stay up all night to bake them since he was out late when I saw him last. I take out my phone and video call him.

"You said not to miss you but you're the first one calling, and so soon?" Seungmin picks up the call, speaking in a teasing manner.

"Did you not get any sleep? Were you up the entire night making these?" I get straight to the point.

"Yeah, no biggie. Why?"

"Seungmin I-"

"DUDE THESE BROWNIES ARE FIRE! DID YOU PUT WEED IN THEM OR SOMETHING?" Heeseung interrupts me, trying to get a look into my phone screen. I hold it to my chest, not wanting him to see my best friends just yet.

"Oooh so his name is Seungmin," Beomgyu adds from the side.

"Leave him alone," I say.

"You've met my friends before. Why can't I meet yours?" Beomgyu gasps when he hears this.

"That's not fair!" He says, surprising me by snatching my phone away from me.

"Hi potential brother-in-law, I'm Beomgyu! And this is Heeseung. We're Jeongin's best friends and your baking skills are on fleek!"

This is why I didn't want to introduce them yet. To my relief, he laughs.

"Thanks! I'm Seungmin, which you just discovered right now because Innie's an awesome friend. By the way, I love your hair! It looks so cool. And you, you're so pretty too!" He hands out compliments to both of them like I don't even exist there, but my cheeks flare up when I hear him call me 'Innie'. Not a lot of people call me that.

"Guess I still got the guy rizz," Heeseung flexes, sweeping his hair back dramatically.

"You didn't compliment me when we first met like this, and you still haven't!" I complain.

"My boy is jelly jelly," Beomgyu teases me from the side. I step on his foot.

"Fine, you're hot or whatever. Happy?" The guys 'ooooohh' from the side, and I blush. I wasn't expecting him to say that.

Heeseung's girlfriend comes from the back of the bus and sits on his lap.

"Hey! You're Seungmin right? I've heard so much about you!" She says, taking the phone from Heeseung. "I'm Hae, Jeongin's real best friend."

"What? You know him?" Heeseung asks.

"Ask me what I don't know about him," she replies.

"So you can tell her but not us? Your bro's?" Betrayal was plastered all over his face.

"Oh please, we both know you'd go airing out my business."

"And she wouldn't? Aren't women supposed to be bad at keeping secrets or something?" Beomgyu says.

"Well, has she told either of you guys?" I ask challengingly. They take a moment to realize.

"You guys should just date instead since you're so close," Heeseung says with a huff, folding his arms and acting like he's annoyed.

"EW, NO!" Hae and I yell together. Seungmin laughs from the other side.

"You're allergic to girls and but somehow you're best friends with Hae," Beomgyu says.

"Yeah, no shit. The first time I saw him he was totally rizzing up these two girls at the bar. But he was not feeling it," Seungmin says. "You wanna know when he was feeling it? When he called a total stranger daddy after spilling water on him."

"NO WAY WHAT-" the three of them burst out laughing, and I turn beet red in embarassment. Out of all things he could have said, he chose this. He was clearly enjoying it too, considering how their laughter was encouraging him to continue.

"And get this, he ended up being my roommate's boss! Not boss, per se, but he works under him."

"YANG JEONGIN YOU ARE A MENACE," Beomgyu hollers, tears coming out of his eyes. I personally didn't find anything that funny, but I guess it's worth it if it makes everyone laugh.

"Alright, that's enough. Seungmin, you should go sleep. Don't you have work today?" I say.

"Yeah, but there's no point in sleeping now. I'll probably go sit with Hyunjin at the hospital for a while with the kids. They seem to like company."

"Wait, Hyunjin works in paediatrics?" I ask. I never knew that. He nods.

"I'll go get changed then. Enjoy the trip guys! It was nice meeting you Heeseung, Hae and Beomgyu. We should totally hang out and bully Jeongin together," he says with a wink, before hanging up.

"I approve of him," the three of them say in unison.