It was a Friday evening. 

Kyuhyun was so done with the full day of needless conferences and dealings with fake pleasantries that he almost wanted to cancel the session with the new at his penthouse. 

Almost. 

But when he thought of the pretty man with a beautiful smile that looked so shy in his profile photo on the website, a thrill of excitement bubbled in his stomach and he shook his head out of any forms of fatigue that was he feeling in that moment. 

A glance at his watch revealed that he had more than enough time to reach home, get dressed, and cook up a meal, before a Kim Jongwoon would arrive. 

Unknowingly, a smile found its way onto Kyuhyun’s lips as he imagined a blushing Jongwoon in his lap while he teased the older man. He imagined Jongwoon fidgeting nervously and adorably since he knew from Jongwoon’s profile that he was Jongwoon’s first assignment as an . He wondered how easy it would be to just pick up the smaller man and manhandle him, just to get a reaction out of the other. 

Oh, Kyuhyun couldn’t wait to meet Kim Jongwoon. 

—

If Jongwoon could, he would be in Hyukjae’s apartment right now, strangling the man for suggesting this to him, even though he was the one who asked the younger for some ‘easy and fun and well-paid’ job recommendations. 

He wasn’t struggling to make ends meet, per se, but Jongwoon thought it would just be nice if he had an extra side gig so that he could quickly save up for the dream apartment (and his numerous shopping collections) that he had been fantasising about for the past year. And when Hyukjae suggested going on simple assignments for some easy and fast cash, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. 

Until now — where Jongwoon was actually standing in front of the door to an expensive penthouse on the 55th story of a luxury residence complex, two minutes before the agreed upon meeting time with a Cho Kyuhyun, a humbly well-to-do and annoyingly handsome man — which was when the anxiety started to set in. 

What if Cho Kyuhyun was a ist that would lock Jongwoon up in a cage? What if Cho Kyuhyun was a serial killer that liked to prey on escorts as easy targets? What if Cho Kyuhyun was a condescending rich bastard that looked down on people? Jongwoon could not guarantee that he could leave the place without punching the man if that was the case. And then he would be sent to the police, and then Hyukjae would have to bail him out, and then Donghae and Ryeowook would laugh at him when —

The door in front of Jongwoon clicked open and — wow. 

If Cho Kyuhyun really turned out to be a serial killer and this was how he lured his victims in, Jongwoon could totally understand why people would willingly walk into his trap, because wow, how was that face real?

“Kim Jongwoon, right?” 

“Y-yes, sir. I’m Kim Jongwoon.” 

“Call me ‘Kyuhyun’, okay? I’m going to call you ‘hyung’.”

Kyuhyun ushered Jongwoon into the penthouse with a warm hand on the older’s back. As Jongwoon toed off his shoes, he uttered a silent prayer in his mind that this would not be his first and last assignment, he wasn’t ready to die yet (even if he was dying under the hands of a dashing man) because he had two puppies to feed at home. 

— 

To say that Jongwoon was adorable was an absolute understatement, in Kyuhyun’s humble opinion. 

The man was everything he had imagined, alright. The blushing cheeks, the stuttering voice, and the nail biting — Kyuhyun would totally have thought that Jongwoon was a high school student instead of a hyung, especially with the baby face and wide eyes that looked at him earnestly through his long fringe. 

But Jongwoon was also so much more than what he had expected. 

Throughout the dinner, Kyuhyun had lost count of the number of times his legs were kicked and his ears got pulled by the feisty man. Jongwoon was also so attentive to every word and action from Kyuhyun, that Kyuhyun almost felt shivers running down his spine being the subject of the other’s rapt attention. When Jongwoon laughed and giggled at whatever nonsense he said, the younger could feel his heart racing at the thought of being able to make the other man happy — Kyuhyun would even begrudgingly admit to himself that it felt like he could get drunk on Jongwoon’s laughter, especially when his smiles were accompanied by the cutest nose scrunch and eye crinkles. 

Before today, Kyuhyun didn’t even think he would notice things like someone’s ing nose scrunching up cutely — it was safe to say that Kyuhyun had become a straight up simp for one Kim Jongwoon. And honestly, Kyuhyun couldn’t even get himself to be mad about it. 

“So… you’re telling me… you’re just doing this because you wanted to buy more… legos…?” 

Jongwoon somehow managed to look embarrassed and affronted at the same time as he laughed bashfully. “… And of course… that apartment that I really want… but, yes… I’m doing this for legos…” 

Kyuhyun tried to contain his chortle as he anticipated Jongwoon’s offended reaction. “Kim Jongwoon… you have horrible priorities.” 

And lo and behold, Jongwoon bristled like an angry kitten, leaned over and pulled at Kyuhyun’s ear with his small hands, poked Kyuhyun’s sides, and scolded, “You and your stupid cocky smile… little brat, you should learn to respect your elders!” 

Unbeknownst to himself, Jongwoon had pressed himself up against Kyuhyun’s whole length of body. Suddenly, Kyuhyun felt like he was hyperaware of Jongwoon’s warm breath against his face and the lean muscles on Jongwoon’s body all wrapped around him. He certainly did not imagine this to happen today, but he was absolutely not complaining about the feeling of having Jongwoon in his arms. 

As Kyuhyun fell silent and fully stared down at Jongwoon in his arms, it was Jongwoon’s turn to realise the proximity between the two of them, and how Kyuhyun’s (overwhelmingly handsome) face was mere inches away from his. 

Jongwoon stiffened, and swallowed a gasp. Was it just him or was Kyuhyun’s face getting closer and closer?!?!

Jongwoon squeezed his eyes shut — he didn’t even know why was he so nervous, but if you had a good-looking and charming man in close proximity, you would panic too, right?!?!!

But after a few seconds which felt like eternity for Jongwoon, all he felt was a warm breath near his ear, and the low baritone voice murmuring, “Should I show you how I want to respect you proper? Worship you?” And Jongwoon just knew, he just knew that there would be a devious, roguish smile on Kyuhyun’s face right now. 

“Yaaaaaaaah!!!” Jongwoon screamed, amidst Kyuhyun’s hearty laughter. The older began raining down punches on the other’s shoulders and chest. “We did not agree on !!!!! You can’t pay me to have with you, okay!!!!!” 

Kyuhyun captured the small wrists in his hands easily, pushed the other man down on the couch, and now he was pressing deliciously against the lithe body beneath him. As Kyuhyun expected, Jongwoon was frozen like a statue, staring wide-eyed up at Kyuhyun. Ah, this stupid hyung really had no idea what he could do to others (or maybe just Kyuhyun) without even trying. 

“So… if I don’t pay you, we can have ?” 

Kyuhyun watched in fondness as Jongwoon choked and stuttered, while he struggled to find his words. 

“N-no…? I mean, no, of course not! Stop teasing me, Cho Kyuhyun! You’re such a ert! Let me go! I’ll definitely scream if you try anything!” 

With another loud cackle, Kyuhyun finally released his hold on the smaller man, to which Jongwoon took the opportunity to shove the younger off of him, and onto the ground. Kyuhyun landed with a resounding ‘oof’. In that moment, Kyuhyun really pondered if there was something wrong with him considering he was so besotted by Jongwoon just three hours into their first meeting, and despite the other man’s violent tendencies that he was even starting to find cute. 

“You should learn about personal space, you little rich brat!” Jongwoon lectured with a finger pointing down at Kyuhyun who was still sprawled all over the floor. Kyuhyun felt like he was being scolded by his wife for coming home late. 

“You should teach me then, hyung. I want to learn more about your personal space too.” 

Jongwoon wondered if there was anyone on earth that was more insufferable than Cho Kyuhyun. Even when Hyukjae was on one of his drive-Jongwoon-crazy-with-the-teasing-every-second phase, he wasn’t half as annoying as the younger in front of him right now. A little voice at the back of Jongwoon’s mind chimed in merrily that Hyukjae didn’t make Jongwoon half as nervous as he was around Kyuhyun, and that there wasn’t an undercurrent of between him and his dongsaeng, unlike… now… between him and Kyuhyun. Shhhhh! Shut up!

“You. Are. So. Annoying!” The older wanted to tear his hair out. Jongwoon figured that it was also high time that he should make a dash for the door, just so he could stop his heart from racing in the presence of one Cho Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun’s appointment time with him was up anyway! He didn’t know why he decided to overstay his time here. (Note: He knew why.)

As Jongwoon turned to start gathering his things, Kyuhyun realised what the older was doing and jumped up. God, he didn’t want the night to end so quickly. 

“Wait, Jongwoon! Don’t —”

Before Kyuhyun could say anything else to convince Jongwoon to stay, Jongwoon took him by surprise yet again as he leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to Kyuhyun’s lips. The younger froze at the feeling of the other’s soft, warm lips that he had been eyeing throughout the night. 

Still frozen and reeling from their unexpected first kiss that he thought would be initiated by him instead, Kyuhyun could only watch in amazement as Jongwoon giggled shyly with a blush high on his cheeks and ran through the door, leaving with a “Bye, Cho Kyuhyun!”. 

It was only a minute later where he stopped replaying the kiss and Jongwoon’s flustered and adorable exit in his head, did Kyuhyun shake himself out of the trance. Shaking his head in disbelief, he laughed quietly to himself as he made his way to the dining room to clear the dishes from their dinner. 

Yeah, Kyuhyun couldn’t wait for his next meeting for Jongwoon.