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36

the sound of guitar was filling jisung's room, as his fingers gently brushed over the strings. he was trying to come up with the perfect melody for lyrics he wrote in his math class few days ago.

"maybe F, then Am, then D, and then go back to F?"
jisung whispered to himself, his fingers moving to press the right strings on the right place.

and then, there was a knock on the door.

"come in."
jisung said without much thought, his eyes never leaving the guitar.

the door of his room opened.

"mister jisung, there is someone who would like to see you."
an elderly maid said.

that finally made jisung look at the door, his eyes widening when he saw who was standing beside the maid.
"minho?"

minho didn't say anything. he only gave him a small smile.

the maid bowed, before she exited the room, closing the door behind her, which left minho and jisung alone.

after a while of silence, jisung finally had the courage to speak.
"what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."
minho said, not daring to move from his place, still standing by the door.

jisung blinked.
"oh."

"is it bad that I'm here?"
minho asked.

"I was just caught off guard."
jisung looked down at his hands.
"we didn't talk in a while."

minho breathed out trough his nose.
"I know, I'm sorry."

"you have nothing to apologize for."
jisung said, putting his guitar away.
"you're going on dates with the actual junho now, so of course that we won't speak as much as before."

"I didn't get my lullaby in a while."
minho said.

"you didn't ask for one."
jisung said gently.

minho blinked.
"fair."

jisung snorted, before his eyes traveled down. there was a bag in minho's hand. purple. pretty. the kind of bag you put gifts in.

minho noticed where jisung was looking.
"oh. I...this is for you."
he said, finally moving towards jisung, offering him the bag.

jisung blinked. one, two, three times.
"for me?"

"hm."
minho nodded, a smile on his face.
"take it."

"it's not my birthday tho."
jisung said, accepting the bag.

"does it need to be your birthday for you to receive gifts?"
minho raised his eyebrows.

jisung looked inside the bag, his his widening when he did so.
"is this what i think it is?"

minho shrugged. and yet, there was a small smirk on his face.
"I don't know."

jisung reached into the bag and pulled out the first thing in there.
"oh my god, no way!"

it was a book. and not just any book.
it was a book from Julie Black. new one, published only a few days ago.

"do you like it?"
minho asked.

"like it? I love it!"
jisung squealed.
"I wanted to go buy it later this week, but I didn't get the chance to. thank you so much, what the hell?"

minho smiled.
"that's not all. look inside the bag once again."

jisung blinked, before doing what he was told. and sure enough, there was a one more thing. and that was something that he could recognize from a mile away.
he looked at minho.
"you didn't."

"oh i very much did."
minho said as jisung pulled out a box with jasmine tea.

"this is literally my favorite. but it's so pricey! you didn't have to buy something so expensive. especially when it's not for a birthday."
jisung said, pouting slightly.
"but...thank you so much, really. it means a lot."

minho breathed out trough his nose.
"jisung?"

jisung looked at him.
"yeah?"

minho blinked slowly.
"do you really think that there is no reason behind this?"

jisung furrowed his eyebrows.
"what?"

"I gave you a book from an author I know you love, bought you your favorite tea..."
minho took a small step closer.
"and I'm here, because I know that you won't be anywhere else."

"okay, that last sentence was really unnecessary-"

"I like you, jisung."
minho said gently, surprised that his voice was steady.
"I have liked you from the moment I shared my burger with you on our first date."

jisung froze up, his eyes widening.
and for a moment, he forgot how to speak.

"you are..."
minho's eyes never left jisung.
"fuck, you're so perfect. you're kind, sweet, funny, passionate, enthusiastic, and I just...I love every single thing about you. even the parts you think are hideous, I find perfect. all my life, I was taught how to act, how to properly lead people, and how to not show your weaknesses. and yet, when I'm with you, I can be myself. I don't have to worry about what you might think of me. and oh my god, that is so freeing. spending time with you was my favorite part of my day, and I was always counting the minutes until I will see you again."

jisung looked at him, his eyes doe.
"minho i...i don't really know what to say."

"you don't have to say anything."
minho said, taking a step closer.
"I know that me coming here and just blurting this out must be a shock. take all of the time you need to process it. but...I ask you to allow me to take you out on a date. on a real one. the two of us, minho and jisung, not minho and junho. we can do whatever you want. whatever is your perfect date, we will do just that."

jisung blinked. his eyes traveled all around minho's face, as he tried to process everything. and in the meantime, minho stayed silent, just waiting for jisung to say something. just as he started to think about the fact he destroyed everything that he had previously build with the boy in front of him, jisung's gentle voice echoed in the room.

"I get to pick the date?"
he said, his voice quiet. and yet, there was a small smile on his face.

minho couldn't help but letting out a small sigh of relief.
"whatever you desire, shall be done."

jisung chuckled, before looking at the gifts laying beside him.
"how about we stayed at my place, drank some jasmine tea, and read this new book together? what do you know, maybe it will become our favorite one."

minho smiled.
"that sounds perfect."