Ren tapped his impatient fingers on the windowsill of the restaurant, standing by the doorway. The woman he was waiting for still hadn’t arrived.

“Excuse me, are you here for our speed dating event?” A host asks him, Ren blinks.

“No.” He answers, he checks his watch and muses the idea. “Is it still open?” This’d be a chance to kill some time at least. The host nods and hands him a slip that he’s mean to fill out.

Ren holds a stern expression as he calmly looks about, he hears every word of each person’s life and answers some questions when he feels like it. He thought this would pass the time, but every five minute ding was horrendously long.

It’s on date #11, that things take a different turn.

He hears the man give his usual details, how he worked in managing a hospital and though he has a degree in medicine, he doesn’t work as one. Ren continues to look around, keeping in mind of the conversation and any questions when he notes silence.

He glances at the nametag of the man across from him. “Keep talking.”

Baekho looks down uncomfortably. “I doubt you’re interested.”

“You’re right, I’m not here for the same reasons everyone else is.” Ren admits truthfully, Baekho nods, repeatedly folding and unfolding the napkin before him. “I see you really want to meet someone.”

“I do,” Baekho replies, stopping what he was doing and looks up. “I probably should have known though, you’re different from the others here.”

Ren wasn’t sure if that was a ‘good’ different.

Baekho looks up, “I doubt you have much trouble finding a date.”

Apparently it was. Ren tilts his head and studies the other, nothing about him suggests that he needed the service either. And out of mere curiosity, he asks, “Why do you have trouble?”

Baekho nervously looks around. “Bad timing, bad luck. Maybe it’s just me.”

“I’ll believe the first two before I do the last.” Ren comments. Baekho chuckles. Ren never really understood the hype of having to finding someone. “I prefer being alone.”

“Do you enjoy it?” Baekho asks.

“I do, don’t you?”

Baekho cranes his neck and thins his lips, the witch can’t help but find his pensive expression quite endearing.

“Just because I am alone, doesn’t mean I like to be.” Baekho confides.

Ding!

Ren glanced as Baekho shifted to the next seat and when he’s greeted with his next person, Ren just exhales deeply and withdraws completely. Just as time was passing by quickly, it was undesirably slow again.

“Ren!”

The speed dating event finally ends and Ren’s left waiting by the empty counter. Ren blinks and turns around, arching an eyebrow at the woman’s appearance. Well, the woman’s new one.

“I was waving to you the whole time,” he vents quietly to the witch, shuffling the cards in his hand quite skillfully.

Ren crosses his arms, “Well, forgive me, I was expecting a woman. What’s your name now?”

“Minhyun,” he says and Ren tries to keep that in mind. His friend’s shifted into so many identities for the fun of it over the years they’ve known one another, that it’s exhausting keeping track of his adopted names. It’s when Minhyun makes a riverboat trick on the counter that he knows for certain it’s him, just a little quirky habit.

“Sorry, sorry. My dealer isn’t here yet.” And Minhyun slides the cards on the counter beside him and begins making tricks.

“I’d rather you didn’t call him that, people who overhear keep thinking the worst of me.” Ren counters, he just needed some information on some possessions he came to own. He then looks back through the glass panels of the doors and sees the familiar man keeping to himself.

Baekho shifted his attention between the ticket on hand and at the person in the opposite far end of the room.

“I suggest you don’t bother.”

Baekho jumps at Ren’s presence and pats his beating chest.

Ren continues without batting an eye, “All he kept talking about are his cars. He probably names each one, spends half his money fixing and shining them. You’re probably not even allowed to sit without sitting on a towel. Don’t want to tread dirt in.”

Baekho pursed his lips and glanced back at his ticket. “We could work out...” His voice trails.

“We’d work out even better.”

The patron sharply turns around in shock at the man's suggestion. Ren keeps his arms behind his back, although he appears wicked, there's nothing that really alienates the human. The witch meets his stunned gaze, “You said yourself you can only spare so much time out of your day with back-to-back shifts.”

Baekho blankly stared, Ren smirked at his own superior memory. It’s more than that though, the human was surprised Ren was even listening to him, and Ren knows it’s a good surprise.

Baekho glances at Ren’s ticket and looks a bit disappointed. “We’ve nothing in common.”

Ren chuckled and looked at him straightforwardly, hands clasped behind his back. “Do you really want to date someone who’s exactly like you?”

Baekho stares uneasily at the car-obsessive man.

Ren isn’t all out to destroy his potential happiness, if they were meant together, Ren would simply leave it be. Yet the witch has a good sense that this path wasn’t right for Baekho.

And finally the human sees it too. “Let’s go then.” Baekho agrees.

Ren waits outside the restaurant and meets up with Minhyun who’s now shuffling the deck of cards between his two hands. Baekho appears impressed as he follows suit.

Ren considers the playful deck and decides on a proposition.

“If you pick the 3 of clubs, I’ll go out with you.” Ren suggests.

Baekho looks a bit taken aback. “There’s 52 cards,” he reminds and looks a bit sullen. Had the man played him? The chances are quite dim.

Ren encourages his new found friend. “Always this pessimistic?”

Baekho inwardly bites his cheek. At Ren's small smile, the human finds it difficult to decline. He hesitantly reaches out on Minhyun’s shuffled deck that’s now held like a fan in his hand.

Baekho wide-eye stares at the card and gapes.

“Are we dating?” Ren wears a wider smile. Baekho, still in shock, finally finds himself.

“I think... being friends should be better. For now” Baekho reluctantly insists. Ren frowned at the idea but decides to go along with it for his sake. Baekho then excuses himself when he receives a call.

Ren twists his lips, not sure if he had actually gotten the better end of the deal considering how south the results went.

Minhyun, however, stares at his deck in confusion. “You rigged that,” his friend realized.

Ren averts his puzzled glances and adjusts his jacket. “Tell your friend I’ll see him another night.” The witch then stops, turning around and flips over another card from Minhyun's hand. This time, it's the actual three of clubs.

"Fate decided he'd approach me," Ren states as he hands back the card. "Why must I let it do all the work?"

Nothing’s changed, Ren still preferred solitude. Yet something about the man gave him a good feeling, and he’s usually followed his instinct.

Of course, there’s always the slim chance he’s wrong.

The witch just scoffs out loud, As if.

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