Jaehwan couldn’t even count how many times he had made mental promises to himself, about not drinking again, but he surely did break  every single one of them. He found himself in the middle of a drinking party after his shift that day ended, and Jaehwan could already see himself regretting this the next morning. At this point he seriously questioned if he had accidently lost his ability to say no somewhere, because right now he was supposed to be at home, taking a shower to let the warm water wash away his fatigue and rest comfortably under his duvet after a damn long day at school and work, not dragging his tired to a goddamn drinking party he knew would end up in extreme headache and vomit later.

Dim lights and loud music, sounds of people chatting and sight of some couples making out here and there, plus the fact that his best friend Cha Hakyeon – despite being the one pulling his collar to this party – already abandoned him, everything made Jaehwan became extra grumpy and annoyed he could beat someone’s . He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, sent a message to Hakyeon telling him he was leaving before gulping down the rest of his drink, the burning sensation quickly filled up his throat, not making his damned mood any better.

He was about to leave, when coming to his sight, a familiar slender but powerful frame, shoulders so broad and legs endlessly long in tight black jeans, followed by a trace of audible oohhhs and ahhhs and gasps. Of all places, Jaehwan would never even dream of meeting Taekwoon here, in the middle of a chaotic party.

Taekwoon did seem out of place anyway, his aura seemed unfit to this noisy and messy situation of stupid and college kids drinking and hooking up. He dressed himself in a simple black shirt, tight enough to compliment the broad shoulders, strong hip line and the subtle view of his toned chest, few buttons undone loosely. His black jeans were ripped from his knees up to his upper thighs, and goddamn were those thighs so firm and healthy, must be the result of years long sport training – Jaehwan recalled Taekwoon did mention playing football for a long time, somewhere along the few conversations they had when they bumped into each other few times later after the night in the restaurant. Speaking of which, a sudden realization came to his mind, that Taekwoon somehow always managed to show up in places that Jaehwan just happened to be, like the printer shop he frequented, or that corner in the library he loved to study in, even the convenience store he often went to grab groceries... or even this party even he himself had no idea he was attending…

 But Jaehwan’s mind couldn’t wander off further than that, because at that exact moment he made eye contact with Taekwoon, and he was hot, so hot, too ing hot, Jaehwan felt heat coming through his skin, head went dizzy. Probably it was the side effect of the drink he had earlier.

“Hey”, Taekwoon approached him first, didn’t even try to look surprised bumping into Jaehwan, almost like he knew Jaehwan was there.

“H-Hi”, Jaehwan swallowed dryly in his throat, “didn’t expect to meet you here”

Taekwoon’s lips curved up into a delicate smile, his eyes shining, “I’m not that much of a party guy”

“I’d figured”, Jaehwan let out a soft laugh.

“Have you ordered anything?”, Taekwoon asked, eyes drifted to the menu of drinks that was written on a black board hanging on the wall

“Y-yeah, I had this one, this cocktail tastes great”, Jaehwan pointed at a random item on the menu, honestly he didn’t remember what he had ealier, he was dead tired, plus the alcohol, plus the fact that Taekwoon was standing in front of him looking gorgeous like a living god, drawing all kind of attention to where they were, all of them made him flustered-

“But you don’t even like pineapple”

“I’m sorry what?”

Jaehwan looked back at the menu, realizing he apparently pointed at a drink called “Sunrise”, underneath of the name written in bold, black characters was the brief explanation of listed ingredients, including “fresh pineapple juice”.

How in the world could Taekwoon know that he hated pineapple?

It was something very random, but it caught him off guard. Because it was so random that it made absolutely no sense that Taekwoon would know it, afterall they were still far from the acquaintance point, and Jaehwan knew even if he talked so much, too much sometimes, there would be no way he would blabber about such stupid and minor things about himself in front of a stranger of sort…

“Let me treat you one drink”, Taekwoon’s soft voice pulled Jaehwan back in reality, “Can you handle more alcohol? Or would you like a smoothie?”

“I’m good with whatever”, Jaehwan nodded, his eyes couldn’t help but notice the long silver earring on Taekwoon’s left ear, moving slightly when he turned away to place an order

They chatted for a bit and Jaehwan got carried away with how light and comfortable the conversation went, when they both got to know each other a bit more, personally, like the fact that Taekwoon had 3 sisters, that he had a cat called Leo at home, that he liked ballad songs and he loved visiting the orphanage and spending time with the kids there when he could manage time…

“Hey guys”, their conversation got interrupted by a female voice, “having fun chatting huh? Would some dancing be nice?”

The girl smiled sweetly, eyes shamelessly gazing up and down Taekwoon’s body. Of ing course, Jaehwan talked to himself in his mind, he ing stood out, of course he would get hit on. That was the point of going to a bar for a drinking party anway, one night ing stand. It made him become self conscious, of how lame and bland must he look in his red and black flannel shirt and fainted blue jeans, heck, how far must he fall behind in comparison with Taekwoon’s iness.

“Sorry, but I’m already taken, miss.”

Jaehwan heard her soft laugh and an awkward apology before seeing her disappearing in the flashing light, as the music changed into something obnoxiously loud and it almost hurt his ears. He could also hear his own heart sinking to his stomach, too. Of course he would be taken. Of course there would be no way that such a hot guy like Taekwoon would be single, of mothering course. He didn’t know why he was particularly pissed off with that piece of information, not like he had his hopes up, not like he expected something to happen, not like he would stand a chance or anything.

“I’m really not into this kind of party”, Taekwoon made his best effort so his soft voice would be audible in the midst of banging and punch you in the face kinda music they were playing, “let’s go somewhere else”.

When they made it outside, Taekwoon let out a soft sigh of relief. Jaehwan realized he dozed off while Taekwoon dragged him outside, and Taekwoon was still holding his wrist, tightly.

“Are you free tomorrow morning?”, Taekwoon gently asked, gently let go off Jaehwan’s hand

“Well it’s Sunday and I have no plans so, yeah, I suppose”

“Then… let’s go somewhere quiet and continue where we left off?”

Jaehwan went lightheaded when he realized his heart was pounding like crazy inside his chest, before the fact that Taekwoon was taken striked back to him and he could feel his heart sinking down again. But then again, Taekwoon was too much of a nice and interesting and gentle and hot guy to just let go just because no romance was gonna happen between them, Jaehwan convinced himself. Having a new friend wouldn’t hurt, especially when he recently found out they have quite much in common when it came to interests in music and art.

When he settled down on the seat next to Taekwoon on his car, few seconds after their hands brushed lightly pass each other’s when Taekwoon opened up the door for him, Jaehwan wanted to punch himself right in the face.

Having a new friend wouldn’t hurt, oh yes, not when you had a goddamn crush out of nowhere on them.

.

Jaehwan couldn’t believe “somewhere quiet” that Taekwoon mentioned earlier would be his place. Taekwoon pushed the door open lightly after pressing the security code, he followed after letting Jaehwan in first.

“Make yourself at home”, Taekwoon chuckled when he caught Jaehwan standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room, then quickly disappeared somewhere.

Jaehwan sat down, eyes wandering around the spacious apartment. Taekwoon’s place was nice, it gave off the same impression as its owner, very neat and organized, but still somewhat warm and cozy. All of sudden he felt the sofa sank down with someone else’s weight, and Taekwoon was sitting way too close for him to handle. Jaehwan  just then noticed the ball of fluff in the older’s arms, pure white fur and very very little sound of purring.

“He was sleeping when I came in”, Taekwoon spoke in a very quiet and soft tone, before laying the cat to Jaehwan’s lap. Jaehwan couldn’t help but coo at its cuteness, when he shuddered a bit then snuggled and cuddled to him like a child.

“I think he likes me”, Jaehwan couldn’t hide his ear-to-ear smile when Leo made himself comfortable in his lap, settling into a very cat-like position of lying his back down, 4 legs up in the air, tail wiggling and eyes slowly shutting down.

“Yeah, he usually hides when there’s a stranger in the house, let alone lying embarrassingly in your lap like that”

You must bring a lot of people home then.

Jaehwan was playing with Leo’s paws and scratching under his chin when all of sudden Leo jumped up at the weird noise – apparently from Jaehwan’s tummy. Taekwoon looked up from his DVD collection (they decided to watch a movie), frowning a little.

“Are you hungry?”

“Y-yeah? Maybe?”, Jaehwan paused a bit embarrassingly, “I think so? I don’t really feel like eating, but yes I didn’t have dinner…”

Taekwoon walked back to where Jaehwan was sitting at, looking at him in disbelief.

“How come? You had school and work then dragged yourself straight to the party to down some alcohol without eating anything?”

“I just kinda forgot…”

“For god’s sake, Jaehwan”, Taekwoon took the glass of wine in Jaehwan’s hand away, still frowning “you sit here, I’ll cook for you”

“No no you really don’t ha-“

“Just sit down already”

.

Taekwoon put the bottle of wine and glasses away, not allowing Jaehwan to have anymore alcohol on his basically empty stomach. Jaehwan followed him when he walked into the kitchen to cook with the various ingredients he pulled out of his fridge, sitting like an obedient kid at the dinning table. He kept his eyes pinning at Taekwoon’s back while he was cooking, and thought to himself that he was definitely getting drunk at this point, finding even Taekwoon’s back extremely y and had that sudden urge to wrap his arms around the other’s waist, resting his chin on his broad shoulders.

“Are you allergic to anything?”, Taekwoon turned to ask Jaehwan while he was chopping some kind of vegetables, “or is there anything you don’t like?”

“No, I’m not a picky eater”, Jaehwan grinned without himself knowing

A short while later Taekwoon put a big bowl of beef and vegetable soup in front of Jaehwan, and smiled a little when Jaehwan gulped hungrily at the sight of the dish. Jaehwan didn’t feel hungry or anything earlier, but now that he saw food, his stomach growled in ridiculous hunger. Taekwoon was actually a good cook, and it didn’t surprise Jaehwan much when he remembered that the older grew up with 3 sisters, he must have learned from them.

“Thank you for the food”

Jaehwan had a delightful meal, and after being forcefully pushed out of the kitchen even though he tried to help out with the dishes, Jaehwan was then lying on the sofa, feeling incredibly sleepy.

“Hey I think I should get going”, Jaehwan said when Taekwoon walked out from the kitchen, seemingly to have finished cleaning up the dishes

“It’s 3AM Jaehwan”, Taekwoon spoke in such a gentle tone, “just stay the night and I’ll drive you back in the morning”

“No it’s fine”, he smiled bitterly, “I’m sure your lover wouldn’t be happy to find out you let someone else spend the night here”

“What the heck are you talking about?”, Taekwoon raised an eyebrow at that, walking closer to Jaehwan

“Well… you said back in the club that…”, Jaehwan looked down, “you were taken, so…”

Jaehwan heard a thousand  but’s echoing in his head when he felt Taekwoon’s lips on his own. Tasted like mint. When Taekwoon pulled out, Jaehwan was still trying desperately hard to function and to understand what the heck was happening. Taekwoon held his wrists down, another kiss pressed to Jaehwan’s lips and he shuddered at that.

“You’re so clueless it’s ing frustrating”, Taekwoon Jaehwan’s lips like they were the sweetest candy

“What are you t-talking about”

“I like you, I like you Jaehwan-ah”, Taekwoon nibbled at Jaehwan’s jaw and kissed down his neck, and it made Jaehwan let out an embarrassing moan when the older bit at the crook between his neck and shoulder

“B-but”

“But what”

“But you said you were t-t-taken”

Taekwoon stopped at that, lifting his head and looked up at a very flustered Jaehwan, cheeks turning red and trembling under him

“I have seen your grades and they were pretty good, but why are you so dumb?”, Taekwoon laughed, “Jaehwan, I literally hunted you down everywhere you go after the first day we met, you think it’s just a coincidence that we always meet here and there and everywhere? Do you ever wonder why I know so much about you, like where you work and what you like and what you don’t?”

“But…”

“Oh please Jaehwan-ah, I thought I sent out some signals pretty shamelessly but somehow you still don’t get it, do you”, Taekwoon ran his fingers down Jaehwan’s cheeks, caressing them so gently, “I thought I made it pretty clear when I said I was taken back then”

“So… you meant…”

“Yes”

.

The moment Taekwoon took him face to face, not so gently, with himself bending in half, arms wrapped tightly around the older’s neck, letting out embarrassing moans and pleas begging for more, Jaehwan thought to himself that he might have messed up with a beast.

But he was in no way regretting this.