“I can’t believe you.”

“Don’t be mad at me, I’m only trying to help you out.”

“This whole time you’ve been his wingman?”

“Not really! It’s not like I made you two meet. That was just a chance happening.”

Sungyeol sat on his bed, arms crossed and frowning at Dongwoo who only looked amused and happy. “It’s your fault I’m going on a date with him!”

“You can’t blame me for any of this, it’s really Myungsoo’s fault,” Dongwoo replied, laughing. “Did I ever mention that he doesn’t really have any self-control?”

“Well, that’s stupid lack of self-control just landed me in a date!”

Dongwoo nodded. “And he’s coming over in twenty minutes so you better get ready.”

“I don’t know where he’s taking me!” exclaimed Sungyeol exasperatedly. “What am I supposed to wear if I don’t know where we’re going?”

Dongwoo looked him over and replied, “Actually, what you’re wearing now is fine.”

Glancing down at his shorts and t-shirt, Sungyeol tilted his head. “Really? It doesn’t seem very impressive for a first date. Maybe I should look fancier…”

“Do you think so?” Dongwoo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Myungsoo did say to look good but I don’t know if this outfit flatters me.”

“Sungyeol, you sound like you’re trying to impress him.”

“I-I’m not!” Sungyeol exclaimed, flushing. “I just – never mind, I’ll just wear this then. It doesn’t matter what I look like for this date. There won’t be a second date anyways.”

Dongwoo laughed to himself. “Okay, whatever you say. Oh, have I ever mentioned that Myungsoo likes fluffy hair?”

It looked like Sungyeol was having an internal battle with himself as he kept glancing towards the bathroom and the clock. Dongwoo watched him with amusement as he bolted up from his bed and locked himself in the bathroom. From the sound of the faucet turning on and off, Dongwoo figured that he was styling his hair.

Sungyeol might have said he wasn’t excited for this date, but Dongwoo had a hunch that he could have been more excited than he let off. It definitely became apparent when two knocks came at the door and Sungyeol nearly jumped off the bed to answer the door. Myungsoo’s bright dimpled smile appeared as Sungyeol pulled the door open.

“Cucciolo!” he said, smiling. “You look great!”

Dongwoo could see the blush dusting Sungyeol’s cheek as he replied, “Thanks.”

Myungsoo was wearing well fitted jeans and a leather jacket over his shirt. He smiled brightly at Sungyeol as he immediately embraced him into a hug. “It’s nice to see you! Let’s go – I’m going to take you around Rome a little bit.”

“Oh, you are?” Sungyeol asked, allowing himself to be dragged out the door.

Myungsoo nodded happily. “Yeah! We’re going to get to know each other and find romance and eat desserts all day.”

Sungyeol looked like he wanted to protest. However, he didn’t get a chance as Dongwoo shoved him out the door and into Myungsoo’s arms. “Have a fun time you two! Be safe!” And he slammed the door shut.

Hopefully things would go well.

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“Is this yours?”

Myungsoo smiled, his hand reaching out to touch the sleek black Vespa scooter that was parked outside the dormitories. It shone brightly in the late morning as the sun hit it. The seat was white leather that looked worn from being ridden many times.

“Yeah, it’s mine,” Myungsoo replied proudly, looping his leg over. He pat the back seat behind him fondly. “Come sit.”

“Wait, we’re going to ride on it together?” Sungyeol asked, feeling unsure. It was one thing to go on a date, but another thing completely to straddle this scooter and hold onto this flirtatious knucklehead.

Myungsoo nodded, like there was no other answer. “How else do you expect me to take you around? Walking gets so boring, no? Come and sit behind me, cucciolo. I promise you won’t fall.”

“Falling isn’t what I’m worried about…”

The laugh Myungsoo gave sounded like chimes as he took Sungyeol’s hand and pulled him over. “Come on; I can’t go on a date without my cucciolo. I can also drive slowly for you if you want. Rapidamente!”

Biting his lip, Sungyeol got onto the back of the Vespa, looping his arms around Myungsoo’s waist tentatively. Myungsoo wait a moment for him to get comfortable before starting up his scooter and jerking forward. He felt Sungyeol clutch on to him tightly with a quiet yelp as he started riding down the streets.

“I thought you said you’d drive slowly!” Sungyeol exclaimed, resisting the urge to wrap himself around Myungsoo’s body for security.

“Oh, cucciolo, this is slowly!” Myungsoo laughed. He spotted Sungyeol’s red hair flying in the wind from the mirror on his scooter and he felt his insides tickled. Sungyeol was so adorable to him. He sped up his scooter just to test it out and Sungyeol nearly buried his face into his neck. He liked that.

“Just hurry, okay?” Sungyeol said, closing his eyes. “Before I hurl.”

“You don’t like riding around on my scooter?” Myungsoo asked with a pout.

Sungyeol took a deep breath. “I’m not fond of vehicles without seatbelts.” He jumped as they hit over a small bump in the road. “Or anything that I could potentially fall off of.”

“Just keep your arms around me,” Myungsoo reassured him with a grin. “And you’ll be okay. If you make it, I’ll give you a kiss afterwards.”

“I don’t want a kiss!”

“Well, you’ll have to give me a kiss anyways since I only take kisses as payment. I don’t let people ride around with me without compensation.”

Sungyeol rolled his eyes, but tucked his chin in deeper. Resting his forehead on the nape of Myungsoo’s neck, he replied, “Do you make all your dates pay a transportation kiss fee?”

“Only the really cute ones.” Myungsoo winked at him through his Vespa’s mirror. Sungyeol scoffed out a chuckle but Myungsoo could spot that light, graceful smile. “We’ll get to know each other faster if we kiss each other, you know?”

“Kissing sure isn’t the way I’d do it,” Sungyeol chuckled. “Maybe getting to know each other through texting first.”

“But you didn’t give me your phone number, remember?” Myungsoo teased. “Besides it’s much easier to get to know each other in person.” He slowed down his scooter, coming to a slow stop.

Sungyeol poked his head back up and looked as the Vespa stopped completely. “Are we here?” he asked in surprise. “I mean, I’m not sure where we were going but I thought it was going to take longer.”

“No!” Myungsoo replied cheekily. “It’s a small place near my uncle’s ristorante.” He got off his scooter with ease and held out a hand to assist Sungyeol. It fascinated him how his hands were darker compared to Sungyeol’s pale ones. It was if his hands were kissed by the sun while Sungyeol’s was kissed by the moon.

“What are we here for?” Sungyeol asked. He looked around, not sure which direction to walk in. “Are we going to get food?”

“Dolce,” Myungsoo corrected. “Dessert.”

Sungyeol’s eyes already seemed to light up. “A dessert? What kind?”

Myungsoo shook his head, holding Sungyeol’s hands to keep him still. “Remember what I said about a kiss? You have to pay up, hm?”

Sungyeol sighed but Myungsoo noticed that he wasn’t pushing him off aggressively like he used to. Perhaps he was warming up to him faster than Myungsoo realized.

“I don’t want to kiss you though.”

Or maybe not.

“Oh, come on, cucciolo,” Myungsoo whined. He begged him, “Please? Just one kiss? Even on the cheek is alright.”

“Myungsoo, this is our first date.”

“Exactly!” Myungsoo swung his hands back and forth, enjoying the fact that Sungyeol didn’t seem to mind holding his hands at the moment. “I can’t take you to get dessert unless I get a kiss first.”

Sungyeol groaned, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back.

“Cucciolo.”

With a sigh and a tiny huff of his breath, Sungyeol leaned forward and gave Myungsoo a chaste kiss on his cheek. Myungsoo could feel a gleeful grin stretch across his face as he stifled a couple giggles that were about to escape. After a moment, Myungsoo leaned back and left a kiss just shy of the corner of Sungyeol’s lips. Sungyeol jerked backward in surprise, his eyes wide.

“Myung… Myungsoo!” he exclaimed. “What was that?!”

“More kisses,” Myungsoo said nonchalantly, pulling Sungyeol in another direction. “I always pay a kiss back with a kiss.”

“But you said the kiss was payment for transportation!”

“Oh… looks like you owe me another kiss then.” He giggled to himself. He stole glances at Sungyeol’s blushing face as he pulled him into a line of kiosk. It took him a few moments but Sungyeol snapped out of his daze soon enough.

“What’s this?” he asked, his large eyes filled with curiosity.

Myungsoo linked their fingers together, delighting in the fact that Sungyeol didn’t seem to notice. “We’re to get a special dessert. Il mio dolce preferito.”

“You’re favorite?” Sungyeol murmured. “What is it?”

“Grattachecca,” Myungsoo said, a sigh of nostalgia whistling through his lips. “I would get it every time I would come to Rome as a child.”

“You didn’t grow up here?” Sungyeol asked.

Myungsoo shook his head. “No – I grew up with my family in Naples. That’s why my Italian has a little accent.”

Sungyeol laughed to himself. “I never even noticed. I would never be able to tell the difference between accents.”

“You don’t need to. As long as you understand me, you’ll be perfectly fine.” Myungsoo winked.

Sungyeol didn’t have a chance to respond as the line of the kiosk moved up and they were up to order. Myungsoo placed the order naturally, his pleasant smiles making him lovely to watch in Sungyeol’s eyes. Sungyeol felt that if Myungsoo hadn’t been so flirtatious, they might have gone a date sooner.

Soon enough, Myungsoo turned to him, handing him the single cup of pale yellow shaved ice. As Myungsoo paid the kiosk workers, Sungyeol took a sip of the frozen drink. His face immediately lit up afterwards, the brisk, acidic lemon flavor brightening his taste buds. It was just like shaved ice but there’s was something distinct about the way it was handcrafted that made it taste better.

“Bene?” Myungsoo asked him, leading him away with a twinkle in his eye. “Limon grattachecca is my favorite.”

“It tastes so nice!” Sungyeol gushed, taking another sip from the straw.

Myungsoo grinned at him, leaning over to sip from the same straw as well. “There,” he said cheekily, “that can be the kiss you owe me.”

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“My mother is Korean. My biological father is Korean also. They divorced when I was a baby and my mother remarried to an Italian. That’s how we packed up and moved to Naples with him and I was raised there.” Myungsoo spoke eloquently, swinging his hand back and forth in Sungyeol’s. “I have some cousins in Korea I visit every other summer but mostly, I stay here in Italy.”

Sungyeol the last of the fruity ice with his straw before asking, “How did you end up in Rome?”

“Moved here with my uncle. I work with him at his ristorante.” He sat the both of them down on the edge of a fountain, the spray of water cooling down the backs of their necks. Myungsoo chuckled at the empty grattachecca cup. “I see you liked my dessert gift?”

Sungyeol smiled. “It was really sweet – I liked it.”

“Not as sweet as you,” Myungsoo said sweetly, laughing at the way Sungyeol punched his arm. “Next time I’ll take you for gelato. If you’re willing to go on a next date, that is.”

Sungyeol shrugged. “I don’t know – I think we got to know each other pretty well today. I think that counts for a second date.”

“Good. That means I have more chances to kiss you.”

“You really like kissing, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Myungsoo responded. “It’s the way I was raised.”

“As sweet as that is, I’m not sure if I’m into the kissing all that much.”

Myungsoo glanced at the sky, taking in the light pinkness of dusk. “Come on, let’s get you back to the dorms. Dongwoo would have my head if I brought you home after dark.” Myungsoo stood up, grabbing Sungyeol’s hand as he started walking back to his scooter. The sun was beginning to set and he wanted to make sure Sungyeol got back to his dorm before dark. “And you’re going to get very used to kissing as you become my boyfriend.”

“Who said I was your boyfriend?!” Sungyeol exclaimed. “All we did was go out on a date!”

“Cucciolo, you’re basically my boyfriend – don’t you know that? And everyone in town as seen as together now. You’re going to be my boyfriend sooner or later.”

“I might prefer later–”

Myungsoo lead him back to his scooter, throwing his leg over the seat and waiting for Sungyeol to get on as well. Sungyeol get on with much more ease this time around. He reached around Myungsoo by instinct and leaned close as he started the ride back to Sungyeol’s dorms.

He noticed that he really adored the smell of Myungsoo’s cologne.

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Dongwoo felt giddier than ever as the sun was setting. He was casually looking out his window while doing his schoolwork, doing nothing but staring at the scenery when he noticed Myungsoo’s black Vespa pulling up.

He watched with glee as Sungyeol got off the scooter and was stopped abruptly by Myungsoo. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he assumed Myungsoo was flirting yet again. He wasn’t sure how their date went but he knew it had gone well when Myungsoo leaned forward to give Sungyeol a kiss on the lips.

Sungyeol jumped back in surprise but his eyes seemed to sparkle nonetheless. Dongwoo punched his pillow – this was so exciting! He knew Sungyeol denied Myungsoo all the time, but there was no denying that there were feeling sparking up underneath all that denial.

There was no question – they must have been official. Or at least this date would be start of their official relationship.

Dongwoo leaped into his bed, propping his textbook up in his arms as he waited for Sungyeol to enter. It was a painstaking wait for Sungyeol to open the door, but once he did, Dongwoo didn’t miss the faint blush still dusting his face.

“So…?” he started with amusement. “Are you two official now? You guys boyfriends yet?”

Sungyeol stared at the floor for a couple seconds and Dongwoo thought for a moment that he was about to get angry. But after a moment he broke out into a smile and nodded.

“…Maybe. I think… maybe.”

“Maybe meaning…?” Dongwoo prompted.

“Maybe meaning I think… he’s my boyfriend.”

It would take ears a lot stronger than Sungyeol’s to ignore that happy shriek of triumph that Dongwoo let out at the top of his lungs.