“You seem unusually perkier today.”

Ryeowook hummed a response, smiling as he settled down in his seat. It was a Monday morning but that didn’t stop him from feeling like the happiest man on earth at the moment. His colleague opposite his desk smirked at him, eyes glinting mischievously.

“I see the date must have gone well with Kyuhyun.” Sungmin, his colleague and best friend, teased and whistled playfully.

Ryeowook shook his head, “The date with Kyuhyun didn’t happened.”

“What?” Sungmin asked, surprised. “But… Wasn’t he the one that asked you out?”

Ryeowook nodded, looking around. Thankfully, the staff room was almost empty and Kyuhyun wasn’t in at the moment. Ryeowook worked as a teacher in a high-school. He taught history to most of the younger grade and he honestly enjoyed his job. He loved working with young children, educating them and helping them whenever they needed his assistance. It was not only a fulfilling job but also a fun one and he had been working for nearly five years in this school, hoping that he could work for more years to come in the future.

Sungmin, his best friend since university, applied for the job together with Ryeowook. Sungmin taught history as well but he was firmer and so he was appointed to the children in the older grades. Sungmin knew that Ryeowook had been crushing on Kyuhyun ever since he joined a few months ago. Kyuhyun was in the maths department but because he taught the older grades classes, Sungmin knew Kyuhyun better and was the one who proposed to Kyuhyun the idea of asking Ryeowook out. According to Sungmin, Kyuhyun seemed to ask questions about Ryeowook from time to time, giving off the impression that he was also harbouring the same feelings for Ryeowook.

 “He did. But he never showed up.” Ryeowook shrugged his shoulders, sounding nonchalant about the whole thing.

“He stood you up?” Sungmin silently cursed, “That bastard! I’m going to give him a piece of my-”

“Minnie!” Ryeowook stopped his friend from continuing that sentence, “It’s totally fine.”

“He stood you up! That’s not fine.”

“Oh… It totally is.” Ryeowook grinned, looking up from his stack of papers to Sungmin. One look at Ryeowook’s face and Sungmin knew something else must have happened because Ryeowook’s eyes were shining so cheerfully. It had been a long time since he even saw that kind of glint in his best friend’s eyes. “Sungmin… I think I met someone… Special.”

Sungmin blinked, urging for Ryeowook to continue.

“Oh, Minnie,” Ryeowook sighed dreamily. “He’s hot, he’s good-looking, he’s blonde, he’s funny and kind and gentle and he has tattoos and his was so hot and-”

“Woah, woah, hold on.” Sungmin paused, trying to catch up to everything Ryeowook had said. “He’s blonde? He has a tattoo? And his was hot!? You slept with him??”

“No no, I’ve only known him for two days.” Ryeowook then told Sungmin of what was supposed to be his date-night with Kyuhyun became a date-night with Donghae.

Sungmin however did not look as charmed as Ryeowook was about Donghae. His best friend awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and tilted his head, unsure of how he should break this down to Ryeowook. Sure, Ryeowook could be naïve sometimes but… Honestly, Donghae sounded like trouble.

“So what happened next? Are you sure he didn’t steal anything from your wallet while you were sleeping?”

Ryeowook frowned, “Sungmin… I can’t believe you’re judging him already.”

“Wookie… The way you describe him already sounds bothersome.”

Ryeowook sighed while Sungmin continued. “What happened then? Did the both of you exchanged numbers?”

“Yeah… We kind of did. But he had to rush off to work so I haven’t met him since last morning.” Ryeowook answered. “But we’re going on a date again later tonight. He’s bringing me out for dinner.”

“So… This ‘rock and roll’ guy… What does he work as again?” Sungmin asked, curious since Ryeowook mentioned about the tattoo on his neck. Obviously, the guy couldn’t be working for the government or working a decent job if he had a visible tattoo on his neck. It was difficult to hide and the society in their country was still unacceptable to people who looked like him in the workforce.

Ryeowook’s smile vanished from his face. “I… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what he works as?” Sungmin repeated and when Ryeowook nodded, Sungmin ran his fingers through his hair. “Gosh, Ryeowook. You never thought of asking him that?”

Ryeowook shrugged, “It just… Slipped my mind. But I’ll ask him about it tonight.”

“I don’t know, Wookie. I just… I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Minnie… You don’t even know him.”

“Yeah, but judging from the looks in your eye.” Sungmin sighed, “It doesn’t matter if he’s really good or bad, because my friend it looks like you’re already in trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

Sungmin chuckled, standing up as he had to get up to teach his morning class. He grabbed his laptop and his stacks of books and then patted Ryeowook’s head.

“Your eyes…It’s the same look you had when you first mentioned Kyuhyun to me. You thought he was your ideal type and you were in love with him and then… He stood you up.”

“I’m not saying that this ‘rock and roll’ guy will break your heart once again but…” Sungmin smiled warmly, “Just… Be careful. Alright?”

***

Ryeowook took a deep breath.

He took an hour picking out what to wear and then another hour to make himself look decent. The thought of going out, standing next to someone as good-looking as Donghae made him even more self-conscious of himself and he paid extra attention to his hair knowing that his face was a lost cause. He was often called cute but… He didn’t want to look cute when he was with Donghae. He wanted to look handsome so that he could match up to Donghae, not wanting to embarrass the other.

Once Ryeowook was done fussing with his hair and his slight make-up, he sprayed cologne onto himself and then looked at himself in the mirror. He looked decent enough, he hoped, as he straightened his plaid shirt. Once he had checked himself in the mirror at least a dozen times, he heard a knock on the door and then caught himself hiccupping out of nervousness. He rushed to the door and opened it, revealing his date for the night.

Donghae was everything Ryeowook remembered him to be. Handsome, blonde, tattooed, charismatic and… Bleeding. Wait. What. Ryeowook’s eyes widned in surprise at Donghae’s bloodied lips.

“Oh my god,” Ryeowook gasped. “What happened to you!?”

Ryeowook grabbed the injured man into his apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. He pulled Donghae into the kitchen and then quickly pulled out a first-aid kit box. Ryeowook urged Donghae to sit on the seat while Ryeowook tended to the bloodied cut.

“What happened?” Ryeowook asked, leaning close as he wiped the blood off Donghae’s lips.

Donghae smiled sheepishly as he wrapped his arms around Ryeowook, pulling him into his embrace, his thighs bracketing Ryeowook’s body. “You look amazing.”

Ryeowook blushed, realizing how intimate this position was. He had stopped wiping the blood off and was now staring into Donghae’s mesmerizing chocolate eyes. “Hi you.”

“Sorry for this.” Donghae gestured to his lips, “I had a small accident on the way here.”

Ryeowook gasped but Donghae smiled and continued, “It’s nothing.”

“Did you fall off your motorcycle?”

Donghae seemed to think about this before he tilted his head, “I… Kind of.”

Ryeowook huffed, “Please be more careful.”

Donghae nodded while Ryeowook continued his administration of antibiotic onto the wound. Once he was done, he smiled at Donghae who was looking at him intensely all this time. Donghae grinned and then lowered his head, brushing his lips against Ryeowook’s softly just once.

“Thank you.” Donghae whispered.

Ryeowook nodded while Donghae stood up, straightening out his dark-rinsed denim jacket. “Should we get going then?”

Ryeowook nervously bit his lips. “Donghae…”

“Hmmm?”

“Let’s just… Let’s just have our