Daehwi was the kind of person that needed reminders to leave his room.  He was the kind of person that would get too engrossed in whatever he was working on and the next time he looked at the clock years had passed and his room mate had been replaced with a robot and- well maybe that's over exaggerating.  But oh well.  It was because of this that Daehwi heard very little about his fellow school mates, had a small circle of friends, and rarely went to parties.

 

It was his second year of college when he went to his first party.  Truthfully, it was an accident.  His best friend's room mate was holding it, and he needed something from his best friend, and then he couldn't find the door in the mass of people.  So Daehwi sat in the corner, put his head in his lap, and attempted to take a nap.  Alas the music was too loud and distracting and Daehwi gave up after ten minutes.  People kept coming over to him and drunkenly talking to him.  Daehwi was very ready to go and very not ready to ask anyone where the door might be, so he gave a heavy sigh and put his head back in his lap.  

 

Who knows how long later, someone else approached Daehwi to drunkenly talk to him or whatever.  He brought his head up to seem polite, only to be met with a cute biracial looking boy. 

 

"What is a cute guy like you doing sitting in the corner of a party?"  The boy asked.

 

"I needed to get something from a friend and this is her dorm room and I can't find my way out through the crowd."  Daehwi admitted. 

 

"What did you come to get at-"  the boy checked the time on his phone "- 10:30 at night?" 

 

"ITS 10:30 ALREADY!?"  Daehwi panicked.

 

"Have you been here for a while?"  The boy asked.

 

"I left my dorm room at 9:30"  Daehwi said, sadly.

 

"And it took me an hour to notice you, that's an all time low." The boy said.

 

"Can you just help me get out of here?"  Daehwi asked quietly.

 

"Awww he's shy~  of course I can help you.  But everything comes with a price."

 

"And what would that be?" 

 

"I haven't thought of that yet.  Come on get up."

 

Daehwi got up as he was asked, still unsure of what he was going to be forced to do.  He feared the worst, but told himself to stay positive.

 

"We've reached the door."  The boy said, snapping Daehwi out of his worries.

 

"What's the price?" Daehwi asked, trying not to seem nervous.

 

"Hmm."  The boy hummed, "You tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine."  

 

"Oh."  Daehwi said, "my name is Daehwi."

 

"Oh! Are you Korean!?"  The boy asked, a smile on his face.

 

Daehwi nodded nervously.  Most Americans know very little about South Korea, all they know is about North Korea and the terrible things it does.  Daehwi was disappointed with the lack of representation.

 

"I am too.  Or part at least part.  My name is Samuel."  

 

"Oh.  That's cool."  Daehwi said, "bye."

 

"See you around!"  Samuel said before heading back into the mass of people.  Daehwi eagerly walked out the door to the hallway somewhere he was more than happy to be.  When he got back to his own dorm room, he decided to give his music and himself a rest, because even with all of the struggles he went through, he still didn't have those lyrics he needed.  

 

The next morning was Saturday.  Meaning Daehwi only had two full days to get the song he had to do for his class done.  But he was not ready to go back to his friends dorm room yet, so he opted for breakfast or really brunch first at the dining hall.

 

At half past noon, he finally decided there was nothing more that he could do to put it off, so he found himself knocking on his friends door.  No one answered, so Daehwi tried just going inside.  Inside, he was met with passed out people sleeping messily here and there and practically everywhere.  

 

Daehwi carefully navigated the main space, and found the lyrics set aside on a shelf.  He took them and left a note saying that he took them, and he found his way back out the door, but not before noticing a certain biracial boy staring at him from across the room.  Daehwi smiled awkwardly, waved, then left.

 

Back in his own dorm room, he settled into his desk chair, very ready to finish this project.  His roommate understood and left the room so he could record these lyrics in peace.  He read through them once, twice, thrice, and decided that it wasn't what he was going for, so he wrote his own lyrics and used them instead.  As per usual, he recorded without stopping and by the time he was finished, the sun was setting.  He texted his roommate to let him know that he was finished, and made himself lots of ramen to eat in the roof.

 

On the roof, he listened to the song over and over.  He still had to come up with a performance for the song.  This was the first time they had to make a performance for their song, and Daehwi had a feeling that it was because his teacher hated that he always did so well at these assignments, and wanted to make sure he couldn't do well this time.  If his guess was right, Daehwi would never know, but he did know that he was stumped.  He wanted the song to have a dance to it, because he made it the kind of song that gave the listener lots of energy.

 

After flopping around a bit on the roof after his meal, Daehwi decided that he would spend his Sunday in a room with mirrors to make a dance for his song.

 

And so he did.  After breakfast, he found his way to the school's dance rooms, and he found one that was empty.  Daehwi didn't know what to do, he was by no means a dancer, so he put on the music and listened hoping something would come to him.  Nothing did.  

 

He spent an hour hopelessly squirming around to the music before he got his first idea.  It was for the beginning of the song, so he started the song over and tried it.  To his surprise, it suited the song well, so he practiced it over and over again polishing it and hoping that he would get more ideas.  

 

He was so focused on what he was doing, that he didn't notice the door open, or the person at the back of the room.

 

"Need help?"  

 

Daehwi turned around.  It was the boy from the party, Samuel.  Daehwi froze.

 

"Need help?"  Samuel repeated.

 

"Uhhh.  I guess?"  Daehwi said, wondering if this would count as cheating on the project.  He hoped not.  

 

"What do you need help with then?"  Samuel asked, joining him at the front of the room.

 

"Well I need to make a performance for this song, but I uh am not good at dancing."  Daehwi admitted.  

 

"Hmm.  Let me listen to it.  I'll see what I can do."  Samuel said.  He bounced his head to the song, and Daehwi could practically see the gears in his head turning.  When he had listened to the entire song, Samuel turned to him, "did you write this?" He asked incredulously. 

 

"Yeah.  It's for a project."  Daehwi said.

 

"Wow! That's so cool."  Samuel said seriously. 

 

"Thanks."  Daehwi said awkwardly.

 

"You need a dance for this you say?"  Samuel asked.

 

"Yeah.  I have something, but it's really not much."  Daehwi said.

 

"I'll help."  Samuel said.

 

So he did.  The two worked for hours, until Daehwi had perfected the dance.  They did it one last time, and Daehwi filmed it on his phone so he could turn it in.

 

"Wanna go for lunch?  I'll pay."  Samuel suggested.  

 

"Sure, but I can pay."  Daehwi said.  

 

"It's fine, it's not much, just lunch."  Samuel said.

 

"No I'd feel bad."  Daehwi said.

 

"Alright fine.  But next time I'll pay."  Samuel gave in.

 

"Works for me!"  Daehwi said.

 

After that, the two became friends, and Daehwi learned more about Samuel.  He had a bit of a reputation, Daehwi noticed. Samuel would flirt with anyone he found attractive, making him a playboy.  But Samuel said that he had never been on a date, and Daehwi believed him.  

 

One day thy ran into each other on the dorm roof.  Samuel seemed quieter than usual.

 

"Sam, you seem quiet, what's up?"  Daehwi asked, concerned.

 

"Daehwi."  Samuel said.

 

"Yeah?"  Daehwi asked.

 

"Will you go out with me?"  Samuel asked, nervously.

 

Daehwi's eyes went wide, and his heart skipped a beat, "yes.  I will."  He said.

 

"You will!?"  Samuel asked turning to him.

 

"Mmhmm!"  Daehwi nodded.  He could feel giggles bubbling up from the excitement.  Samuel hugged him.

 

"I'm so glad.  I was so nervous!"  Samuel said, a grin spreading to his face. 

 

"You looked nervous."  

 

"You could tell?"

 

"Yeah.  You were quieter than usual, even though recently you've been getting quieter in general, you stopped hitting on people whenever you saw them.  I was starting to get worried!"  

 

"That's why you noticed!?  I feel like such a failure!"

 

"Aww.  You're not a failure, don't feel that way!" 

 

"I am, but anyway, i stopped hitting on people when I realized I love you"

 

"Wow, already such a good boyfriend!"  Daehwi exclaimed, and Samuel blushed.

 

"You're a better boyfriend than I am."  Samuel argued.

 

"I haven't even told you how much I love you yet." 

 

"You're right.  You haven't."

 

"Alright.  I love you so much.  I've loved you, I think since you helped me with my project a few weeks ago.  I love spending time with you because it's always fun when I'm with you, and i can't ever bring myself to be upset at you and I've always wanted to spend more time with you."  Daehwi said in one big breath.

 

"Can I kiss you?"  Samuel asked.  He was staring at Daehwi with a star struck look in his eyes.

 

"Not if I kiss you first."  Daehwi teased.   The two leaned forward, and met somewhere in the middle.

 

When they broke apart, Samuel rested his chin on Daehwi's shoulder.

 

"I love you so much."  He whispered.

 

 

A/n:  I'm back again.  This one was a request made by SHINee_MAKNAE.  I hope you liked it!  And as usual, please excuse any writing mistakes I might have made.