A/N: This chapter... got kind of out of hand. I planned for it to be the final one but then suddenly... not. So, yay, i guess, you can look forward to one more update??

The fifth time, Hyukjae was there.

But Donghae is still pretty sure it wasn’t his fault. No, it was all Kibum’s fault for jinxing it (“Seriously, wear whatever you want, as long as you don’t set anyone or anything on fire it will be okay”.)

He’s been preparing himself for Hyukjae’s visit the whole day. Well, not the whole day, since he couldn’t afford to take the entire day off (he checked), but at least the whole afternoon.

Donghae has always been told that he’s prone to taking things a bit too seriously and a bit too far. He disagreed, of course, he always did only what was absolutely necessary. So after he vacuumed the whole apartment, cleaned the windows, and was talked out of getting a haircut and lighting candles to create ‘the right kind of atmosphere’, he could finally say everything was and would be perfect.

Oh, how wrong he was.

He should have known so from the moment he opened the door.

Hyukjae was standing there, smiling, eyes sparkling, and Donghae realized two things.

First, Hyukjae’s eyes were the darkest, deepest shade brown, yet still the warmest he had ever seen.

Second, this was the first time he saw him out of his uniform. He loved uniforms as much as any other healthy 20-something year old man, but Hyukjae was standing there in tight black pants and a fitted shirt and his hair looked better than ever before and oh my god, is that a leather jacket-

In the future, if anyone asked him about this moment, he would say he just calmly greeted him, flashed him a smile and complimented him on his appearance like the good host he was, all before politely inviting him in.

What he wouldn’t say is that he stared at the other man without a word until he made things so weird Hyukjae almost left, because that’s definitely not what happened.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hyukjae asked gently after the awkward hellos were finally exchanged.

“Yes, absolutely, no need to worry, I just got kind of distracted, please do come in,” Donghae said quickly before moving out of the way to let Hyukjae in, very much ready to move on and forget.

Hyukjae didn’t look like he believed him, but he just shrugged it off.

“Actually, I really don’t want to bother you, I can just hand you the pamphlets and go,“ he said as he reached into the backpack he was carrying.

“No, you’re not bothering me, not at all! At least you can explain them to me in detail, what if I didn’t understand something and you’d be already gone,” Donghae said, exactly as he practiced.

He prepared and practiced quite a few lines, actually. If Hyukjae said he had to go, he’d reply with “Oh, are you sure? The pizza I ordered some time ago is just about to arrive!” and then sneak out to the bathroom to order pizza. He was willing to compromise his stance on takeout food just this once.

Then, if A) Hyukjae still insisted he had to go because it’s an emergency, Donghae would say “Is it dangerous? Please, take my number and call me, I want to make sure you’re okay”, consequently obtaining the number of the hottest fireman in the city, or B) Hyukjae said he didn’t like pizza: “Did I say pizza? I meant Chinese.” Everyone liked Chinese, it was a safe bet.

He was prepared, he thought to himself smugly as he led Hyukjae into his apartment.

“Do you want something to drink or eat?”

“Maybe a tea, if you’re offering?” Hyukjae said, awkwardly standing in Donghae’s living room.

“Okay, you just make yourself comfortable!” Donghae beamed at him.

If he had turned, he’d have seen Hyukjae suspiciously eying the candles he’d forgotten on the coffee table, but Donghae was too occupied with humming to himself and picking the right kind of tea (the perfect blend of suave and flirtatious, but not too forward) to notice.

(He settled on green tea, mostly because it was either that or expired strawberry one (he wasn’t sure if tea could even expire, but he was sure that strawberries weren’t supposed to smell like this.))

“You… you have a very nice voice,” Hyukjae said when Donghae returned.

“Oh?”

“Just, when you were humming in the kitchen. Your voice is very nice.”

Donghae blushed. And then blushed some more, because he had no idea how to react. “I- thank you? I didn’t realize you could hear,” he stammered. “It’s nothing special.”

To distract himself he decided to go open a window to let the cold air in, since Hyukjae looked a bit flushed - he probably messed with the heater by mistake again.

When he finally sat himself on the couch (the most convinient distance from Hyukjae, he made sure of that, not too close but still close enough), Hyukjae cleared his throat. “So… what’s up with the candles?”

Donghae looked at the coffee table in front of him. The sight made the little alarm in his head go off.

This definitely wasn’t going according to the plan.

“They were, uh…”

For a séance? Nope.

For a date? Definitely not, Hyukjae needed to know he was available.

For a date with you? Please don’t