daniel can't pinpoint that one moment.

that one moment when everything seemed to piece together perfectly. that one moment when everything just felt right. so he takes some time to figure it out -- well, he tries to at least.

he doesn't know why he's making it into such a big deal really. it never seemed to bother him until a five message chat with jaehwan at 3 a.m. got him to kickstart his mid-mid-life crisis.

jaehwan: dude i think im in love

daniel: with minhyun?

jaehwan: bro who the hell else? obviously minhyun...

daniel: well idk you guys spent five years pining after each another and never got any far. what changed?

jaehwan: idk we were just on the couch watching a movie and he put his arm around my shoulder and everything just seemed so right you know?

so daniel stayed up that night (he had to get up at 6 anyway) thinking about all the possibilities. 

maybe it was when they first met in high school. mrs. thomas' homeroom period at 7:57 a.m. daniel showed up late ("fashionably late" as he likes to tell seongwu) with bed head and one sock on. a quick glare from mrs. thomas rushed daniel toward the only empty seat left in the classroom, right next to the owner of dark comma hair and one incredibly small face. daniel, always prone to mess, glanced apologetically at the boy as his backpack fell to the floor and opened up a pandora's box of crumpled up papers and empty jelly wrappers, but was only met with a soft smile. daniel decided that he liked that smile --- and he liked that face. 

"uh if you don't mind me asking, can you tell me what the hell's going on?"

"maybe if you came on time on the first day of school you could figure it out?" the boy replied with a raised eyebrow.

"oh okay. sorry to bother."

"nah, i'm just playing. you didn't miss much. mrs. thomas seems to hate anyone under the age of 45, which does seem to clash with her chosen occupation as she now stands in front of thirty or so prepubescent 14 year olds --  to . the name's seongwu, yours?"

"uh name's daniel. kang daniel."

"oh? that's different. you from around here?"

"uh busan, if that's what you're asking?"

"i was looking for something more along the lines of los angeles or new york, but busan's fine. it's great actually."

"yeah, it really is great." 

and daniel could just tell then and there that seoul would be just as fine -- maybe even better.

nah, it couldn't be that early in the game, daniel decided. no one's bound to fall for someone that quickly -- this wasn't an everyday romcom, it was danielseongwu ("don't you mean seongwudaniel? i'm older, you brat"). whatever the case, it wasn't this. 

or maybe it was when seongwu was the lead of the school's play "grease" their junior year of high school. seongwu always had a passion for performing. with an undeniably handsome face and endless charms, seongwu was the theater teacher's go-to when it came to making an awkwardly casted school play into a blockbuster hit. and daniel went to all of his shows -- just as seongwu had always showed up to his dance practices and bboy competitions -- with a bouquet in one hand and a giant photo from his "seongwu's not-so-handsome moments" collection in the other.

the play ran smoothly, of course. with his warm vocals and slim physique ("don't forget my irresistable visuals and my perfect hair and my -- ow."), seongwu had the crowd in the palm of his hand. despite watching each and every one of his performances, daniel still managed to get surprised at his best friend's talents, not that he would ever say more than the simple and platonic "good bro."

but this time it was different. dressed in a leather jacket for practically the entirety of the show and dark wash skinny jeans that clung on to seongwu's long legs, daniel was stunned. seongwu had never looked better since -- wait, was that a kiss? did seongwu just kiss her? was there a kiss in the movie? wait. uh was this scripted? did seongwu decide to kiss her right now? 

but to daniel, what was far more troubling than seongwu's stage kiss was the fact that he cared this much. why did he even care? shouldn't he be happy that his best friend's probably gonna get some after the show? why did that just sound worse?

"how'd you like the show?"

"it was alright."

"that's it? that's all im getting? i spent hours after hours and days after days in a leather jacket and way too tight jeans and that's all i get from my best friend. damn, i need some new friends."

"oops i mean good  bro."

"there we go; that's the danny boy i know."

"please do not call me that or else i'm posting that video of you falling on your face during 'grease lightning' on every social media platform in existence. wanna go get some dinner at the extremely lavish and luxurious Mickey D's? my treat."

"oh damn as much as your offer sounds tempting, sejeong just asked me if i wanted to go out for a congratulatory dinner for finishing the play."

"sejeong as in sandy right? are you guys exclusive now or what? i saw that sneaky kiss mr. ong."

"nah it's nothing. plus, that was a scripted kiss and purely acting. it was my talent that got you to believe that it was improv because i am just that great. i'll text you when i get home okay? thanks dude for coming, really thanks." 

seongwu gave daniel's shoulder a quick grab before walking onto the next person. daniel watched silently off to the side as seongwu walked through a sea of people, all of whom had fallen for his charms in just one night. he didn't know why his heart felt so heavy seeing seongwu hug sejeong. he couldn't explain why he felt so upset seeing the two actors walk out together. weird, he thought, really weird.