When Soohyun heard his phone go off, and the sun wasn't up yet, few things went through his mind.

One: Whoever was calling better have a good as hell reason to wake him up at this ungodly hour.

Two: If it was his roommate, that guy can stay outside. He's not dragging himself down two flights of stairs to let this guy in when he's high as a kite and can't tell which way is his ID card was facing a g a i n.
 
Three: He had an early morning lecture and he was not about this late night talk life. He will murder this person if it takes longer than necessary to go back to bed.

He slid the phone to accept the call, regardless of how badly he wanted to ignore it. Instead of using human language, he opted instead to groan into the speaker, trying to get across that he was not happy about this.

"Well that was kinda hot." Immediately Soohyun was awake and alert. He knew that voice.

"Sun???"

The loud laugh was almost unbearable to Soohyun's ears. "Yours truly ~" Sun sang, making Soohyun cringe internally. It was too early for this.

"What is it, Sun --"

"Go out with me."

God, Soohyun was so glad that Sun hadn't Facetimed him -- he was blushing from that blunt statement, despite the confusion. "We did last week? And I thought we were doing something thi--"

"Nope." Sun really didn't want him to talk his way out of this, huh? Soohyun hasn't said a full sentence besides the other boy's name. "Let's do it now."

Soohyun almost cursed when he saw the clock. "It's two am, what could possibly be open at this hour???"

"Uh, everything fun? Duh!" Sun scoffed from the other line. 

Soohyun shook his head, "I think your idea of fun and mine are very different."

"Oh come onnnn Myunsik," Sun's voice raised an octave, "Let's do something crazy! It's okay to be sleepy for a lecture in school for a day. Pleaseeeeee?"

"Are you seriously doing aegyo over the phone?"

Another scoff, "Well can you imagine me doing aegyo? Aren't I adorable? Because this definitely should be working. Riiiiight?"

Damnit, Soohyun bit the inside of his cheek, thinking about Sun's face and what his facial expressions could be, it was a cute image. 

"Myunsik~~" The other boy whined, and Soohyun broke. Man, was this what one date and a cute face with a voice to match could do to him? This was going to be difficult.

"Fine." Soohyun groaned again, pulling himself out of his bed as he searched for pants, "But only for an hour, got it?"

"Sure, of course, whatever you say~" 

As he hung up the phone, something told him that he was definitely not going back to bed tonight. Sorry Professor Byun, nothing personal against you, but unfortunately, Soohyun was just a little too weak for the Sun in his life.


Soohyun regretted everything.

Whatever he was expected Sun to do or to take him to, it wasn't this!! The two were out in Itaewon trying to get into this place called Trance. While Soohyun wasn't exactly an expert (or a novice either), he was definitely sure from the signs and men lingering around that this area in Itaewon was the hotspot for gay nightlife. 

To say he was panicking and nervous was an absolute understatement. What if someone recognized him? What if someone called him out? Oh god, what if someone told his parents --

"Ugh, they're always so busy. We'll never get in tonight, come on --" Sun started tugging him away from the crowded area, towards another part of Itaewon, which brought Soohyun out of his mind.

"Now where?" 

Sun barely glanced back as he manvuered the both of them through the crowd, "Soho. It's less of a crowd and more mixed gender."

Soohyun skidded to a stop right in front of the bar, making Sun turn to face him. "What?"

Sun didn't meet his eyes, fidgeting and looking away, "Listen, you took a chance to come out with me tonight, but of course I took you to the most crowded, well known gay bars in Itaewon. You were obviously uncomfortable, so I'm sorry. Maybe we can work our way up to Trance."

Oh. Soohyun felt his cheeks heat up. Maybe he should Sun a little more credit with his awareness. "T-thanks..."

"Anyways," Was that his imagination, or was Sun blushing too? "For being so gracious, you're buying me a drink." 

He followed Sun into the bar, nodding in agreement. Why not?

Soho was one of those on the edge bars -- close enough to regular Itaewon nightlife where lots of people of all genders were around, as well as being lowkey apart of the queer nightlife scene. Soohyun could handle this. Everyone seemed to know Sun pretty well, leaving them alone after Sun ordered their drinks for them.

They sat in silence until they arrived, but as soon as the bartender left, Sun just about burst.

"So have you, like, never been to Itaewon?" 

Soohyun shrunk a little, avoiding eye contact. Of course he hadn't, his parents would kill him. "No... Not this part, at least."

"Oh ." Sun seemed to realize why he was so uncomfortable, "Okay, sorry. I should've asked before assuming, you know?"

"It's okay." Soohyun took a sip, "It's not so bad after the initial shock."

Sun suddenly had a huge grin on his face, "So that's not a no to trying again?"

"Not trying again anytime soon, that's for sure." Soohyun was quick to correct, almost feeling bad when Sun deflated a bit. The boy seemed to recover though, sighing, "Fiiiine. You can pick the next date spot." 

Soohyun wasn't expecting a way to turn the tables, but he couldn't turn down the opportunity, remembering their first date last week. "You seem really keen on getting "a next date" with me."

Sun's face turned a bright shade of pink, and he downed his drink as he stumbled over his words. "Uhm, well, I mean... do you.... Do you not?"

Wait, mayday mayday. Not what Soohyun was intending. "No, I mean, yes, yes I do but.. uhm..." He couldn't find the words, and the boy beside him seemed to have his eyes glaze over strangely as he gazed at him. Soohyun squirmed a little. Did he mess up???

_________________________________________________________________________


Sunhee wasn't expecting Myunsik to go along with his plan so easily, but here they were, at a bar, asking about a next date and stumbling over their words like fools. He had to admit -- Myunsik was very cute when flustered, and a few less than PG thoughts happened across his mind as he tried to figure out what to say. 

"You're really cute." HE DID NOT JUST SAY THAT OUTLOUD. With Soohyun going from mildly red to a bright red that definitely couldn't be blamed on the alcohol, Sunhee realized that he did indeed, say that out loud.

Well .

The silence was absolutely unbearable, and just as Sunhee was going to attempt to ommunicate without blurting out about how much he liked Myunsik's face, the college boy spoke up.

"I should... be getting back..."

"Oh, okay." Sunhee nodded, slapping money down on the table for the bartender and following Myunsik out. His only thought was about how he definitely messed up. . Double .


Sunhee was just about to cry about how he was forever alone the rest of the day. He didn't sleep that well, either. He was very, very upset and decided to lock himself in his room all day.

"Ugh, I don't think I've wanted to cry as much since I heard about the possible contract breakup between SNSD... Dammit." Sunhee moaned, burrowing deeper into his bed.

When Genie started playing, he almost didn't pick up his phone. After all, he was in mourning over his now dead love life. It'd probably remain dead forever.

"Hello?" He answered anyways. It might be a friend inviting him out tonight. Could he even show his face in Itaewon after that spectacle last night? God he didn't want to think about it.

"You free?" Suddenly, Sunhee felt his skin clear, the sun come out, and his energy return. 

"Myunsik????"

"Yeah, been trying to get you to respond for a few minutes now." Myunsik sighed, "So are you free or not?"

"Oh, uh, maybe...?" He pretended. He wasn't easy, of course not. Not like he was secetly hoping that Myunsik would call back. Not at all. "I am -- wait, why?"

"Meet me at the Hyungsik University train exit as soon as you can, okay?" 

Sunhee agreed, tripping himself over his blankets and pillows to get out of bed and start getting ready as he hung up. "Wait.... I have to use that thing again???" He realized, shouting as he remembered how he struggled the first time he went to see Myunsik.

However, because he is Kim Sunhee, and he is apparently blessed beyond imagination, he was able to manage finding the stop. He jumped, trying to find Myunsik in the crowded area. He caught sight of the quiet boy, and waved to get his attention.

As Myunsik saw him, Sunhee swore the boy lit up and smiled so brightly, it stopped his heart for a second. Obviously, this boy was not good for his health. What was happening??

"Sooo," Sunhee didn't hesitate to jump right to the point, "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Come on," Myunsik grabbed Sunhee's hand, "You took me to Itaewon to show me your fun, let me show you mine."

Sunhee would've responded, but honestly he was too caught up in the fact that Myunsik's hand was really warm and really soft and he liked the way it felt with his to really think straight.

Not that he ever thought straight to begin with, he managed to think before looking around the streets to where they were headed. 

It took a few minutes, but eventually they got to a coffee shop. Just like their first date. Sunhee turned to him, trying not to look too unimpressed. Myunsik seemed to expect this and smiled, "Just go inside, you'll understand."

The sign read the shop's name as "Cafe Comma", Sunhee noticed as he opened the door. Once they got in though, Sunhee definitely realized that this wasn't just an average coffee shop. From the floor to ceiling, there were books covering every inch of wall. The two stories had a very open, modern layout with just a touch of rustic -- very aesthetic, Sunhee noticed. It made him feel welcome and cozy. The tempting smell of their coffee was a huge part of that too.

"Find a spot, I'll get us coffee." Myunsik encouraged, going over to the barisita and starting up a conversation. It was obvious he had been there plenty of times before. Sunhee just nodded, wandering around the tables and taking in all the different kinds of books, eventually finding his way upstairs to a snug little table out of immediate eyesight. When seeing Myunsik's head start to come up the stairs, Sunhee panicked, grabbing a book to attempt ot look intelligent and classy.
 
Myunsik was just smiling, something that Sunhee didn't know if he could handle as the other sat down, placing the coffees on the table. "Good spot, I like coming up here to work usually."

"Oh, cool." Sunhee said, opening the book and pretending to be invested in it.

"....Sun." Myunsik's vocie sounded amused, and he looked up to meet his eyes, again, pretending to act as though he was immersed in this intelligent novel. He should win an award for his acting. Or at least be cast in a gay friendly drama. 

"That book is an advanced English textbook." 

Sunhee looked down. . He couldn't read English. He could totally play this off. "Yes, so?"

Oh god, if Sunhee thought Myunsik's smile was hard enough, his laugh just shot an arrow into his heart. He gulped. 

"You told me you couldn't read English on our first date." Myunsik teased, and suddenly, the conversatio about languages and how Sunhee was so bad at them came flooding back to the other.

Double .

Myunsik slid a little bit closer, "Hey, if you want to learn, I can teach you some things." 

Sunhee just froze up, nodding and allowing Myunsik to start explaining something about grammar and something about oxford -- wasn't that a shoe brand??? How was that relevant to English?

He was living in a gay k-drama, apparently, because this was textbook episode 15, when the main couple starts getting closer and one of them realizes they like each other or that they think the other is cute. And as Sunhee stared at Myunsik, he sighed.

He really was cute.

"...So you've said." 

Oh god he's doing it again. There's no alcohol or loud noises that could cover that up this time, Sunhee started panicking --

".... You're cute too." 

Author's Note