Day 1

Amidst the buzzle of thousands of people Donghae feels alive. He has been high on adrenaline since this morning when he and Sungmin stepped off the buss that had taken them across the country in the five hour long journey to get here. His skin is tingling from the excitement of being in a place where nobody knows he’s Lee Donghae. There is a sense of freedom in it, to let go of who you are to become someone else. He feels empowered, on top of the world! He thinks he might just be able to push the button on his chest to make it glow and then fly around over the heads of all the non flying people down below, swooping down like a true superhero to solve any crimes he happens to see. 

‘I am Iron Man.’ He whispers under his mask.

The mish mash of people are an ocean of colours and textures before him, wrapped from head to toe and barely wearing any clothing. Donghae’s gaze linger over a gold bikini Leia wondering if she’s not cold before a giant half human half machine blocks his view. Whoa! He quickly shoves his hand down his pants to grab the phone hidden inside his waistband, this he has to take a picture off. 

A smack on the back of his head brings him back from where he has been spazzing in the middle of the lobby at comic con. Sungmin is giving him a glare from beneath his blond fringe and it might have be kind of scary if it wasn’t so darn adorable. Sungmin simply frowns at him and pulls his pink stuffed bunny closer to his uniformed chest. 

‘Will you stop being so ing hyper for like five minutes Donghae. I knew those energy drinks wouldn’t be good for you.’ Sungmin brushes a lock of hair from his face. The swear clashes hard with Sungmin’s innocent appearance and Donghae snorts in reply. In retrospect he can admit that the two energy drinks he downed at the hotel, together with a bag of skittles and a dingdong might not have been the best decision. But being on a bus all night had not offered the most comfortable sleep and he had needed a pick me up. They should probably get something to eat soon though. 

‘Ok. So we’re going to check out the costume contests at four but until then we can do whatever.’ Sungmin says. They’ve already looked through the program together and have set a preliminary plan so they know when to make their way to the different events to ensure getting a seat. They settle on exploring the venue for a while before making their way to the food court. Donghae is busy flipping through the pictures of him and several other marvel heroes on his phone, while discussing the merits of pizza over noodles with Sungmin when he hears a indignant exclamation as he crashes into a dark figure.

‘Oh, . I’m sorry,’ He hastily backs away so that he isn’t on top of the other person and reaches out to steady them both with a hand on a broad black clad shoulder. ‘Are you ok! I’m so sorry!’

‘Jesus ing Christ. Watch where you’re going!’ a dark voice hisses at him.

Donghae’s hand is pushed away and the person, the man swings around as best he can to gather his long black cape in his hands muttering curses under his breath.

‘Hey... I’m really sorry.’ Donghae pushes his own mask off of his face and tries his best to calm the other man down. ‘It was an accident.’ The man doesn’t answer but he straightens his back and turns his attention back on Donghae. He looks pretty intimidating clad in all black with a red sword of some kind hanging from a belt around his waist. Suddenly a hand shoots out in the air in front of Donghae and as he watched the man in black starts to slowly clench his fingers together in a fist. Donghae just tilts his head and stares questioningly at the man in front of him. 

‘What are you doing?’ 

The cloaked man doesn’t answer. His body goes even more rigid and as his hand starts to shake Donghae picks up on a faint grunting sounds and heavy breathing. 

‘Um... do you need the bathroom?’ Sungmin asks from behind him and Donghae snickers.

The masked man somehow manages to look extremely put off and his breathing comes out in loud puffs inside his helmet. It just makes Donghae laugh harder. He quickly falls silent when a tall shadow approaches him and he turns his head only to be met with an ethereal face and long blond locks of hair that flow like silken strands in the air as Thranduil steps in front of them.

Donghae has both the entire Hobbit trilogy and the entire Lord of the rings collectors box, extended versions, at home and he might or might not have the biggest crush on Legolas and Haldir. They’re tall, blond and y, with an ability to walk gracefully on top of snow and he would get with that any given day. Now Thranduil, even though he hasn’t been in the picture for as long as Legolas has, still has made quite the impression, and when the look alike in front of him opens his mouth to speak Donghae entire core is shivering in anticipation and his trousers feel a bit tight. 

‘He’s trying to force choke you.’ Explains an extremely annoyed voice and the beautiful features of the elf scrunches up in a expression of being utterly done with the world. Donghae didn’t even realize eyes could roll that far up without getting stuck. It’s not graceful at all. He does have the assholishness of Thranduil down to a tee though. He can hear a strangled sound coming from behind him and Thranduil’s eyes snap towards Sungmin. They settle at the other man for a few second and some of the annoyance in his stance seems to melt away. His voice softens slightly as he turns back to Donghae.

‘You know, force choking... Like they do in the movies.’ He continues and Donghae just blinks slowly. ‘You know, Star Wars?’ Seemingly realizing that Iron Man has no clue what he is talking about, fake Thranduil turns to the man in black.

‘Honestly Hyukjae I thought we had established this when we were five. Force choking does not work and it makes you look like an idiot!’ The man finally lowers his hand and instead rips his helmet off showing off his dark dishevelled mop of hair and the sharpest jawbone Donghae has ever seen.

‘But Kyuhyun he stepped on my cape! Look!’ He swirls around to point at the hem of his cape that is now covered in dusty footprints. ‘I spent weeks on this costume you idiot.’ He hisses and gives Donghae a death glare that in all honesty is too cute to do any good. ‘Where did you get yours? Pick it up at the toy store?’ He snarls the last word like it has personally offended him. 

‘Yes!’ Donghae exclaims with a huge smile. ‘How did you know?’

‘Oh my god!’ The man in black groans.

Five minutes later Hyukjae is animatedly explaining the craftsmanship that goes into his suits and how mass produced costumes will never hold the same standard. Donghae gets lost somewhere around Worbla.

Day 2

It takes a while for Donghae to notice that Sungmin is more preoccupied with his phone than usual. He’s always been a keen poster on social media but Donghae catches him smiling at his phone in new ways throughout the first evening. When he snorts out a laugh in a way that is completely unlike him during lunch of their second day Donghae simply has to ask.

‘So you want to tell me what’s got your interest?’ He nods towards the phone.

Sungmin looks up at him with a slightly guilty look on his face. ‘I’m talking to Kyuhyun.’ He says.

‘Who?’ Donghae tries to remember anyone they know by that name.

‘Thranduil, from yesterday. We exchanged numbers while Hyukjae was lecturing you on the finer arts of cosplay.’ Sungmin turns his phone to show the Facebook profile of one Cho Kyuhyun. ‘Turns out they live in the same hotel as us.’

‘So what are you talking about?’ Donghae asks his friend.

‘A bit of everything. We’re just getting to know each other.’ 

‘Let me see!’ he says and swiftly plucks the phone from Sungmin’s hands. Donghae quickly scans through a chain of texts that is a hell of a lot longer than he thought it would be. There are even text messages from late last night. No wonder Sungmin looks a bit tired today. He doesn’t snoop too much but he can tell that the two men like talking to each other and have covered an enormous amount of topics in such a short span of time. He hands the phone back with a huge grin on his face.

‘So you like him huh?’ 

Sungmin simply gives him a one shoulder shrug and tries to feign innocence. ‘Maybe’. He says, but he can’t stop smiling. 

As they eat Donghae coaxes Sungmin to tell him more about the other man. It turns out Kyuhyun and his friend live about an hour away from their own home town and Donghae is relieved that Sungmin isn’t hung up on someone who lives across the country. Kyuhyun is a few years younger than Sungmin and they both share a passion for wine, anime and second hand stores. It’s like a match made in heaven Donghae tells him jokingly as they finish their lunch. Sungmin keeps talking about Kyuhyun as they make their way into the panel discussion they have planned to visit and by the time they are sitting down Donghae feels as if he knows Kyuhyun as well as Sungmin seems to do. One of Donghae’s favourite comic book writers is on the panel and he eventually gets lost in the excitement of the discussion. Sungmin’s seems equally invested in the talk until his phone vibrates in his hands in a staccato beat, notifying him of a new message. As he checks his phone his eyes widen and a deep blush creeps onto his cheeks and he twists in his seat to look behind them. 

‘What?’ Donghae asks and turns with him, searching the crowd for whatever has caught Sungmin’s attention.

‘He’s here!’ Sungmin whispers to him while pointing. ‘Kyuhyun.’

And he’s right. Donghae spots the man on the other side of the aisle, a few rows back, slouched down onto his chair with a smug grin tugging on his lips and his phone in his lap. He’s dressed in normal clothes today, sans wig and it takes Donghae a few seconds to make sure that it is