The Deal * Seokmin x Joshua

Eight

Joshua even had a car. He was beyond perfect. Seokmin felt himself smiling ear to ear as they pulled up at the mall with Seungkwan and Hansol in the back seat. Joshua had handed over his phone so Seokmin could choose from his playlist but he had to hand it back when he saw that it was all in English. "I can't read this hyung," he said softly and Seungkwan had burst out laughing from the backseat. "You guys are going out and you're still calling him hyung?" "It's cool," Joshua had said with a semi smirking smile. "I kind of like it."

"Ooohhhhhh..." the chorus of teasing voices rose from the back and Seokmin blushed. He honestly thought he'd never blushed so much in his life. Was this what it was like to have a boyfriend? To feel giddy all the time? To be constantly blushing and giggly and excited? To always be in anticipation of what the other was going to do next? How they were going to make you feel? He never felt like this around Soonyoung. Probably because the guy never even spoke to him. Seokmin tried to think back to that night at the party when he had been talking to Soonyoung. Did he make his stomach swirly with excitement? Seokmin furrowed his brow deeply as he realised the only thing Soonyoung made him feel was nervous and inadequate.

"Earth to Seokmin," he heard Joshua speak and realised that, while he'd been daydreaming about Soonyoung, the others had all gotten out of the car. "Come on," Joshua said as he held his hand out and Seokmin took it. He felt the older squeeze his hand tight as the four walked towards the entrance to the mall and Joshua's hand was warm and soft and nice. Everything about Joshua was nice.

Joshua decided he was going to treat Seokmin like a prince for the short while he had him. At home in the US everyone knew he had money. The huge house and the expensive private catholic school were a dead giveaway. It was continually a source of discontent for him, always wondering if his friends were just using him for their beach house in Malibu or his basement apartment in his parents' house filled with everything a teenage boy could want. Or his ex boyfriend who was happy enough to let Joshua buy him games and clothes and albums, but wouldn't let him gift him any jewellery, because his parents would definitely notice. These guys had no idea Joshua had endless income at his disposal and they wanted to be friends with him anyway. It was a nice feeling.

"You want something to eat?" he asked Seokmin as they headed towards the food court. It wasn't dinner time yet but way past lunch and Seokmin shook his head. "Let's get ice-cream instead," he smiled brightly and dragged Joshua by their tightly gripped fingers towards the nearest Baskin Robbins. "What do you want?" Seokmin asked Joshua who let go of their hands to place them onto the cold plastic window with a million colours and flavours inside. "Um, just a plain strawberry I think," Joshua said and Seokmin moved to the counter.

"Can I order and pay please?" he looked around to see if the others were listening and they weren't. "You don't have to do everything for me. We're just pretending, remember?" Seokmin waited for Joshua to answer and Joshua stared at him for a while before realising he needed to respond. "Okay, you can get this one, but just this once." Joshua said as he leaned in closer and wrapped an arm around Seokmin's waist. "And I like making our pretending look convincing," he whispered as he leaned in to Seokmin's ear making the younger blush furiously.

They sat side by side, knees barely touching, Joshua with his little cup of strawberry ice-cream and Seokmin with his waffle cone of chocolate. "You guys are really cute together," Hansol said as he sipped at his green wheatgrass juice and Seungkwan ate a huge pretzel. "Cuter than us?" he asked as he bumped against Hansol's side and the younger laughed loudly. "Maybe," he said and Joshua and Seokmin shared a little smile.

After their snack the two couples split off and went their separate ways. Joshua decided to look in a few clothes shops he liked and Seokmin trailed him in as they rifled through racks and racks of garments. "This would look great on you," Joshua held up a black tshirt with a deep v neck. "Why don't you wear more stuff like this?"

Seokmin shook his head. "It's not me hyung, I don't like to stand out." "But you do anyway," Joshua smiled at him as he selected a different size. "Your smile and your voice attract attention anyway. What's wrong with looking good?" Seokmin stared at the ground as he shifted his feet. "The hair was enough," he said as he ran a hand through the dyed burgundy locks still coloured from the weekend before. Only now instead of styled up it had returned to its usual place sitting flat against his forehead. "The clothes were a bit too much. It's just not me.""Yeah but it could be," Joshua said kindly as he picked out a few more shirts and a pair of expensive looking jeans with rips in the thighs. "If you really want Soonyoung to notice you then you have to make him notice you." He handed the hangers to Seokmin and pushed him towards the change room. "Try them on."

When Seokmin emerged, he felt weird. The black t-shirt was thin and clung to his chest in a way that made him feel almost naked. The black jeans were tight around his thighs and the shirt wasn't long enough to cover his butt. He felt exposed like never before. Even the other night when Joshua had dressed him up for the party he'd worn a looser shirt which was longer and much more modest. This felt scandalous after a lifetime of loose jeans and tidy collared and coloured polo shirts. This was a lot of black.

"I don't know about this..." Seokmin said nervously as he turned in front of the mirror but Joshua just grinned at him. "You look amazing! Seriously when do you find the time to work out? I've never seen you heading to the gym." "I-I don't work out hyung, I just dance, and this is the way I am..." Joshua leaned forward and scruffed up his hair a little before stepping back and smiling. "Perfect. You look perfect Seokmin. There's no way he won't be able to notice you..."

Joshua took the clothes to the register, not before adding the clinging tshirt in white, blue and grey as well, adding the same jeans in blue. He had already swiped his credit card before Seokmin even had a chance to emerge from the changing room. "Here," Joshua handed him a bag and Seokmin stared at in confusion. "Can't buy my fake boyfriend a gift?" Joshua said and Seokmin went to hold his hands up but Joshua just forced it into his arms. "Please. You've helped me so much just by being my friend. Just accept it." Seokmin had a hard time but he did. He also accepted the bag from the sports shop filled with new workout stuff for dance class and the tiny bottle of aftershave Joshua said smelled the nicest in the whole shop.

"I feel kind of spoiled hyung, why are you doing all this for me?" Seokmin asked and Joshua just shrugged. "Because I can, and I want to, I guess," Joshua didn't really know why. He was just glad to have Seokmin by his side as they wandered the various shops on the lower floor. "Wait here," Seokmin said on a whim. He left Joshua outside with the bags as he ran into the gift shop and looked around, quickly selecting the perfect item, before paying and walking out with it hidden behind his back.

Joshua had to smile as Seokmin handed him the cute white stuffed bunny. It had big round dark eyes and soft white fur. "He kinda looks like you hyung," Seokmin said as the butterflies in his stomach went crazy at the sight of Joshua's delighted expression. "Thanks," he said as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of Seokmin's head and Hansol and Seungkwan walked up behind them. "Gag!" Seungkwan said loudly. "Hansol where's my cute stuffed bunny?" "You really want one?" he asked and Seungkwan shook his head. "You guys really are the cutest," Hansol grinned as the four of them began to walk out to the carpark together.