Junhwe opens his eyes with his mind a bit hazy but still aware. The first thing he sees is the ceiling; his ceiling specifically. He’s back in his room.

Which means the mission really is done, and Donghyuk really is with him now. He grins to himself and turns to the side, expecting to see the other spy’s sleeping figure, but no one’s there again.

This is the third time already, what the hell. He feels a small panic bubbling inside him that only escalates when he pulls out a note underneath a pillow.

“I’ll be at the kitchen invading your fridge. Don’t go panicking now :)”

Junhwe re-reads that for two times more before slumping back to the bed. What a sick joke. He’ll have to tell Donghyuk that notes or letters under the pillow are prohibited from now on but still, he snorts and laughs.

He hears Donghyuk humming to a trendy song when he steps out of his bedroom. His amused smile turns into a full-on grin as soon as he enters his kitchen and sees Donghyuk cooking something on the stove, wearing his shirt and a pair of shorts from his closet. From the smell, it must be Kimchi fried rice.

He walks behind his fellow spy and wraps both arms around his waist, resting his chin on the crook of Donghyuk’s neck and shoulder. “Hey sleepyhead”, Donghyuk greets him with a light sing-song tone in his voice.

“You’re forbidden to put letters and notes under the pillow from now on.” Junhwe pouts as he watches Donghyuk add chopped green onions on the fried rice.

“Why, were you scared?”

“No, but I’m serious. No notes, and no disappearing in the morning. You have to wake me up too.”

“Wow, I don’t remember signing up to a demanding relationship. Should I say goodbye now?”

“I’ll hunt you down.” he presses a kiss on Donghyuk’s neck, who’s placing the food on a large plate.

“No need. If I miss you I’ll track you down myself.” Donghyuk says with a teasing smirk as he carefully turns around in his arms, presenting him with the fried rice.

“Now let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

Junhwe grins and nods, leaning down to have his good morning kiss. Day 1 barely started but he’s loving it already.

.

.

.

The original plan was to really laze around in Junhwe’s apartment, pig-out, and have marathons of movies and dance videos. But since they’re spies and their bodies are trained to be constantly on the move, they end up abandoning Plan A in favor of going out in the city and doing whatever the hell they want. Money’s no issue and even though it’s just in the figurative sense, they have all the time in the world.

Donghyuk can’t help but be very excited. It’s been so long since the last time he’s permitted to go out in public and be an ordinary person. Best part is he has Junhwe with him too, at last. It’s like their days together 2 years ago but much better because now, they aren’t hiding something.

“Three days sounds long for a date but I feel like it’s going to be short for us.” he says as he scoops out ice cream from his crepe. “Look, it’s already 30 minutes past 2.”

Junhwe smirks at him, gently pulling him close when a student was running in a hurry towards their general direction. “3 days of continuously being together isn’t even considered a date already. It can be called a fling.”

“Ah, you’re right. Then 3 days is enough for a fling. Let’s have a beautiful goodbye after.”

“The humor will be lost if you continue doing that gag.”

Donghyuk pinches the other’s side, grinning when Junhwe let’s out a dramatic yelp.

“There’s so much I want to do with you but three days don’t seem enough.”

“We don’t have to do everything. Let’s just do the things we want the most right now.”

“Don’t think too much, am I right?” he asks sheepishly. Junhwe pats his head and holds his free hand.

“Come on. The city’s so big, we’ll definitely find something interesting to do.”

And Junhwe’s right. Just around the corner of a noodle restaurant across the street, they see an arcade center. He pulls Junhwe towards it, challenging him to the game machines with the right to order the loser around at stake. He wins of course, just because he knows Junhwe’s not really into games, but he suspects the other spy lost on purpose for some of it.

“Hmm… let me think first. It’s not everyday that I got Agent 14 to do anything for me.”

Junhwe snorts. “I’m giving you 10 minutes. If you can’t think of anything, it’s void.”

Donghyuk smirks. Is his fellow agent underestimating him? 10 minutes is more than enough.

He lets Junhwe drag him to a place selling movie Blu-rays. He tinkers on his phone, swiftly typing out keywords in search engines and taking note of schedules and addresses. It seems it’s his lucky day, with the whole universe cooperating. He now knows what he’ll make Junhwe do.

“Hey, I’m going to use my prize now.” he whispers with a smile. Junhwe cringes and takes the two blu-rays he’s holding towards the cashier.

“Darn. It’s only been 6 minutes. Okay, what is it?”

“I want you to go with me somewhere and do as I say.”

Donghyuk laughs at the slightly nervous expression on the other’s face. Does he think he’ll make him do something embarrassing or humiliating? As much as it sounds fun to do, Donghyuk won’t do that. He won’t waste the precious time he has for something insignificant.

They go for a bus ride for half an hour, getting off at an area known for artsy cafes. He leads Junhwe to a street with crafts shops.

“Wait.. this is…”

He grins proudly as he stands beside Junhwe in front of a 3-storey bookstore. In front of it is a big sign board announcing that Lee Hyun, Junhwe’s favorite novel author, would be holding an autograph session that day. On that exact time as well. They can see the line of people inside.

“I want you to go in there, purchase an advance copy of The Fire Tree sequel, and get your fave author’s autograph.”

Junhwe faces him, still surprised. Donghyuk just grins more and holds his hand.

“You can do that right, June-ya?”

“I…” Junhwe gulps. It’s funny how a top spy like him suddenly freezes in situations like this. “How did you..-- when did you..--”

“While you’re getting your movies. I did a quick search and found out he has a schedule today.” Donghyuk tightens his grip on Junhwe’s hand and pulls him towards the bookstore entrance.

“Come on! The line will get longer if we don’t move now.”

***

Junhwe has imagined this scenario at least once whenever he reads novels. He imagines meeting his favorite author and chatting with him as if they’re long-time friends, telling him his own interpretation of the riddles in the book and getting a word of approval.

He can see Donghyuk preventing laughter at the side of the space allocated for the signing. Yeah, Junhwe knows he looks stupid right now. He’s an elite spy; has encountered life-threatening situations so much, it’s a normal thing at this point. Is this Donghyuk’s actual plan? To see him suddenly blank and unsure?

But Junhwe manages to compose himself in time. He clears his throat and politely hands the advance copy to a man around his 40’s. The man asks him for his name with a kind smile, and he tells as clearly as he could.

“You know, I’m not actually aware you have a signing event today.” he says as he waits for the author to write a message on the blank page after the cover.

The other man looks up with amazed eyes. “That means you just happen to chance upon here? You have great luck.”

“I think I really do have great luck, for having someone in my life who manages to surprise and make me happy in the most unexpected ways.”

Junhwe leans and points to where Donghyuk is. “He’s the person I love. He took me here.”

The author looks to where he’s pointing, smiling after taking a moment to wave at a surprised Donghyuk. The man nods and continues writing on the book.

“Then please cherish him. Our society may still not be as open as the foreign countries, but you have my support.”

“I will. Thank you sir.” He bows in respect as soon as his book copy is handed back to him. “I’ll make sure a movie adaptation of the sequel will happen too.”

The author suddenly jerks his head up to face him again, shocked. Junhwe gets out of the bookstore before he could be chased or questioned, pulling Donghyuk with him.

“Did you tell him about me? I think I saw him waving.”

“