If there were a prize for Seoul's worst taxi driver, Donghae would win that award. He would have won it his first day on the job, when he almost ran into a biker when he accidentally drove off without allowing his passenger to even close the door. In his defense, the passenger said to "step on it" and Donghae was only complying to his orders, like a good worker.

 

Besides, Donghae never wanted to be a taxi driver in the first place. He was going to be an idol! Singing in front of screaming crowds, carrying out his father's dream. But things didn't work out when he missed the auditions, and his life went down the toilet afterwards. And by "down the toilet," he means "to his uncle's taxi company."

 

And because no one ever listens to little Donghae (even when he's shouting, "I barely passed my driving test!"), he's stuffed into a yellow taxi before he even finishes reading the instructional pamphlet. He was mostly just skimming the pictures, thinking they gave it to him to pass the time. He wasn't taking it seriously!

 

So now Donghae is on his month anniversary of taxi driving – his parents are just proud he hasn't injured anyone yet. He gets to clock out an hour early (but only by an hour, because his uncle does need to make a profit, and you know what they say – time is money), and he's counting the minutes until the clock strikes seven so he can leave and go home to his mother's delicious dinner.

 

It's about four in the afternoon right now, and business is always slow before rush hour. He likes it though – no one to stop him over. Not a stoic businessman, or yacking college student, or a woman with her crying baby who smells like poop to bother him and his kpop.

 

Ah, yes, his K-pop. His uncle has to constantly remind him to not play his music when there are customers, which tires Donghae, because he hates the silence. But rules are rule (even if Donghae thinks they're dumb).

 

But his peace is interrupted when he sees a man waving him over. Donghae, forever oblivious, doesn't really notice how frantic the man seems, or the bag in his hand, or that he's dressed in all black. When the man gets into the car, he yells, "Step on it!" But Donghae knows better now – he's supposed to get an address before driving off aimlessly.

 

"Address, please," Donghae replies politely, because his mama raised a gentleman.

 

"Uh, just – anywhere!" the man yells, looking behind him nervously.

 

Donghae frowns. "But –"

 

"Just drive!"

 

Donghae sighs, pulling away and driving. "Okay, but just know that the more I drive, the more you pay because–"

 

"It's fine!" the passenger snaps.

 

Donghae blinks. "Rude," he mumbles under his breath.

 

This seems to catch his jumpy passenger off-guard. "Excuse me?"

 

"Rude," Donghae repeats, because his mama also didn't raise a liar.

 

"I'm not rude!" the passenger defends, his voice taking on a slightly whiny tone.

 

"Yes you are," Donghae replies matter-of-factly. "You came into my taxi, snapped at me, and didn't even bother giving me an addre–"

 

"WATCH OUT!"

 

Donghae swerves just in time to avoid running into a food cart.

 

"– and you back-seat drive. I'm the driver here, you know, and I like to know where I need to go or else I feel uneasy and–"

 

"DOG!"

 

"Well, I know I forgot to shower last night, but I didn't think my hair was that bad–"

 

"NO, YOU'RE ABOUT TO RUN INTO A DOG HOLY TURN!"

 

Donghae makes a sharp right turn, throwing his passenger into the door. His fault, though, for not wearing a seat belt.

 

", that hurt!"

 

Donghae stops abruptly, causing the passenger to then slam into the back of Donghae's seat.

 

"Are you okay?" Donghae asks, turning around to finally look at his passenger and notice the mask. After all, he has to make sure he gets paid, and a harmed passenger won't tip as well. That, and if said passenger reports him to his uncle, Donghae doesn't know if he can sit through another scolding. They're so boring.

 

"Do I look okay?" the passenger snaps, rubbing his forehead.

 

"Well, I don't know," Donghae says with a frown. "You're wearing a mask."

 

That seems to have passed the passenger's thoughts though, because his lips – which are rather nice, now that Donghae looks at them – formed an 'O' shape at that, as if suddenly remembering half of his face is covered.

 

"R-Right..." The passenger clears his throat, leaning back and slamming his head against the headrest. Donghae told his uncle they should probably cushion those, but his uncle is a bit (or a lot) stingy with money. There's a loud thump, and Donghae actually winces at how much that must've hurt. "Ah, ," the passenger curses under his breath.

 

"I have a first aid kit here if you need– YOUR LEG IS BLEEDING!" Donghae exclaims, pointing to the tear on his odd passenger's leg.

 

"It's fine, it's just a cu– WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!" His passenger's expression – or what he could see, from what was revealed from his mask – went from mostly calm to panicky. Again.

 

"SHOULD I TAKE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL OR SOMETHING?! DO YOU NEED TO HAVE SURGERY?!" Donghae screams, because he's never seen blood in his taxi before. Or at all, really, because he has a tendency to pass out when he does. Another reason why his dream to be a doctor fell flat the first time he accidentally harmed a kid in gym class and gave him a bloody nose. The kid was fine, but Donghae stayed in the nurse's the rest of the day, unable to get the sight out of his mind. He vomited twice that day.

 

"What? NO! No, do not take me to a hospital! I'll be fine, I'll be fine– , that's a lot of blood..." Donghae almost faints. "I could probably use that first aid kit right now, you know." Donghae nods numbly, reaching over and grabbing it before tossing it to his bleeding passenger.

 

"Why are you cut?" Donghae asks weakly, staring straight because if he looks back one more time, he'll throw up and his uncle will make him clean up both the blood and his vomit.

 

"Uh..."

 

"And why are you wearing a mask?" Donghae continues, trying to forget all about the cut and the blood. Oh God, the blood.

 

"Er..."

 

"And why do you have a bag full of insoles?"

 

"How'd you know they're insoles?" the passenger asks, horrified.

 

Donghae shrugs. "I have my ways." And by that, he means he wears them more than he should for someone who sits more than he ever stands, given his occupation.

 

"O-kay..."

 

"So are you a burgular or something?" Donghae asks nonchalantly while secretly dialing 112 on his cellphone, finger lingering over the call button just in case. First, he gets a bleeding passenger who asks him to drive "anywhere," and now it turns out this passenger may be a criminal. Donghae just can't get a break, even on his one month anniversary.

 

And damn it, this totally ruins his streak too. This man is obviously injured, so there goes his victory.

 

"NO!" the passenger exclaims incredulously.

 

"Then where did you get the sketchy bag?"

The passenger fidgets for a moment, which nauseates Donghae because it gets more blood everywhere. He has half a mind to dial the police right now just to get the bleeding man out of his taxi. Yet, though alert eyes and pink lips have him doing otherwise. He's snapped out of his reverie when his passenger finally confesses in a long slur of rambled speech.

 

"I may-or-may-not-have-stolen-from-SM's-secret-but-not-so-secret-endless-supply-of-insoles and I may-or-may-not-be-on-the-run-from-the-police-for-taking-a-pic-of-yunho-in-the-shower-after-practice-but-hey-I-saw-a-chance-and-went-for-it-sue-me."

 

Donghae blinks. "Um. So you're a criminal?" he asks again.

 

Hyukjae blanches. "N-No! I just– I'm low on money, and you know, the economy's bad, and I needed new insoles, and I thought maybe SM would have some to spare, so I-I– took them without permission?"

 

Donghae stares at him. "So you stole them."

 

"NO! I didn't steal–"

 

"If you didn't get permission to take them, that's stealing," Donghae informs him. After all, he learned that lesson himself, when he accidentally took his friend's phone at home and got yelled at by his brother, who was sure Donghae had turned into a delinquent because 'that pop music is a bad influence with their hipthrusts,' says Donghwa.

 

"W-Well, yeah, but–"

 

"And as a taxi driver and a citizen, I must do my part in society and report all crimes–"

 

"NO! Don't!" The passenger lunges forward when Donghae whips out his cellphone. Donghae, distracted by the blood, immediately drops his cell phone and screeches.

 

"EW! Don't touch me! Just work on your cut and get out, and I'll leave you alone!"

 

The passenger sits back and sighs. "Okay, okay. But uh... can I ask for a favor?"

 

Donghae sighs. "What?" He really doesn't want to associate himself any further with this– hot piece of meat, holy , bleeding passenger just took off his mask to reveal hot passenger. Donghae's sure he must be drooling, but the passenger doesn't seem to mind.

 

"Do I have any bruises on my face? A trainee took a swipe at me on my way out, and he punched me pretty hard for a kid," he sighs, probing gently at his face. Donghae wants to whisper, I'll do that for you, but refrains.

 

"Uh, I don't see anything," Donghae replies, thoroughly looking over his passenger's face for any bruises. Especially around his lips. It would be a shame if those were bruised... unless they were by Donghae's lips... wait, what.

 

"Are you sure? You're staring a lot," he replies, frowning. Donghae wants to giggle, because there's no reason for this criminal – HE'S A CRIMINAL, DAMN IT, DONGHAE! STOP OGGLING HIM! Donghae berates himself mentally to get out the images in his mind – to be this cute.

 

"Ah, yeah, just, uh, making sure."

 

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, I guess. And for not, uh, turning me in. I'll be out of here as soon as I bandage this up–"

 

"NO!"

 

The passenger stares at him blankly.

 

"I mean, uh, you should... let that... rest. Running on it would be a bad idea," Donghae finishes lamely. His mind is screaming, What the hell are you doing?! GET RID OF THIS GUY! HE'S BAD NEWS! but his heart (or was this his pants?) was whispering to keep him forever. In his bed.

 

"Well, I don't know if I have to keep running. You got far enough, and I don't live that far, so I could get home," the passenger replies with a shrug, slowly wrapping his leg in the bandage.

 

"But-But–"

 

Donghae is cut off by the sounds of sirens in the background.

 

"! I thought we lost them with your crazy driving!" his passenger swears, and he becomes slightly less attractive after insulting Donghae's driving. Even if the insult was true.

 

"Well, if you still want to get out..." Donghae trails off.

 

"Just get me far away from here!" his passenger demands, and Donghae doesn't need to be told twice. He speeds out of the alley he pulled into, pulling into a less crowded street. Of course, there is no such thing as a less crowded street, though, when rush hour hits.

 

"Oops?"

 

His passenger facepalms. "Damn... well, they won't suspect a taxi, right?"

 

Donghae nods. "Nah, and with the traffic, they won't get anywhere. So I guess we could just wait it out." He turns on the radio to pass the time, and the first thing on the news is this:

 

"The insole thief has struck again! This has been his biggest hit by far, with SM's training building as his latest victim. Reports say he fled in a dented taxi cab with a wound to his leg. Police are still searching for the burgular, but –"

 

Donghae turns it off. "Er, so you've done this before?" he asks awkwardly.

 

The passenger is quiet for a moment before quietly mumbling, "Yeah."

 

"So you... you steal insoles?"

 

"... I'm not exactly proud of it either."

 

"Or your height, apparently."

 

The passenger sighs. "Can we just, I dunno, drop it?"

 

Donghae shrugs. "Uh, sure."

 

A moment of silence passes before the passenger speaks up again. "... can you play music?"

 

"What?"

 

"Music. You know, songs. I just... am really uncomfortable with the silence right now. And the fact that you keep staring at me through the rearview mirror."

 

"Oh, right, sorry," Donghae replies, but he keeps staring as he turns on the stereo again. And, of course, the first thing to play is K-pop. DBSK's "Mirotic" to be exact, which is probably the number one most played song on his playlist to be honest. He immediately turns his iPod off. "Umm, any radio station in particular you want to listen to?"

 

"That was fine," comes the cool answer.

 

Donghae blinks. No one he knows likes K-pop. In fact, whoever he tells mocks him for listening to "teenage girl" music, which is why he insists that all of his friends – who he meet on line – are halfway across the world whenever his mom asks why he doesn't have plans.

 

"Are you sure? I mean, I could listen to anything really. You don't have to listen to K-pop if you don't want," Donghae explains. It's just like him to embarrass himself in front of his devishly handsome passenger.

 

"It's fine," he laughs, and Donghae almost crashes into the car in front of him because that laugh. It's so dorky but so adorable! It reminds Donghae of one of his few friends who buys him food, Leeteuk. Leeteuk is nice. Maybe this criminal is too. If that's possible.

 

"Okay..." Donghae says, unsure. But he turns on his iPod again and connects it to the stereo.

 

He swears he sees his passenger doing a small dance in the back.

 

"So, uh, what's your name?" Donghae asks. It's not unlikely of him to make small talk – after all, as a taxi driver, you learn to do that. And Donghae is typically friendly, despite the fact that he thinks no one truly understands him and his K-pop. But of course, in this instance, he's not asking for the sake of friendliness only.

 

"Why?" the passenger replies, frowning. "Do you want a name so you can turn me in?"

 

Donghae shakes his head immediately. "No, I'm just curious! After all, I feel like we've bonded in this past half hour. I mean, your blood is now embedded in my seats." Donghae tries to not wince at the thought.

 

"Right. But I don't know if I can trust you yet... after all, you almost dialed the police on me."

 

"That was before I saw your face."

 

"What?"

 

"Nothing! I mean, your face. It looks... trustworthy," Donghae lies lamely.

 

"Okay... well, you can call me Eunhyuk for now."

 

"I'm Donghae, by the way." Or you can call me your future boyfriend, either works. The fact that Eunhyuk is a wanted criminal has completely slipped his mind now.

 

"I like your taste of music, Donghae," Eunhyuk replies, smiling.

 

Donghae is already accident-prone, but with Eunhyuk around, smiling and laughing like that, he's lucky he hasn't driven them off a cliff yet.

 

A lot of the car ride (if moving this slowly in traffic can be considered a car ride) consisted of Donghae oggling Eunhyuk through the rearview mirror. If Eunhyuk noticed, he sure didn't say anything; in fact, he just continued mouthing along the lyrics to all of Donghae's songs, which probably made Donghae fall more in lust with the man.

 

Traffic took about half an hour to clear, which was pretty good considering that one time Donghae got stuck in traffic for over an hour and missed his episode of Running Man thanks to it. Time flew with Eunhyuk to stare at, though. They end up on the outskirts of Seoul, surrounded by rundown thrift shops and laundromats.

 

"Do you want me to drive you back afterwards?" Donghae offers, because they're pretty far from where Eunhyuk claimed to live nearby. And Donghae wouldn't mind another half hour with Eunhyuk.

 

"No, it's fine. I think I probably owe you over ₩70,000 now," Eunhyuk chuckles. "Besides, my leg feels fine now."

 

"Oh." Donghae can't help but let the disappointment seep into his voice.

 

"But thanks for the ride and the music," he says, smiling. "Oh, and the bandage, of course."

 

"Yeah, of course," Donghae mumbles. He still can't let go of the fact that his y passenger is leaving now, forever out of his life to continue his life of crime and insoles. It's too much for Donghae's heart to bear.

 

Eunhyuk hands him the money, which Donghae takes numbly.

 

He's opening the door to leave, when he stops and looks back, "And Donghae?"

 

"Yes?" Donghae replies, eyes gleaming with hope.

 

Eunhyuk chuckles. "You're cute when you stare. The name's Hyukjae, by the way. The real name."

 

"I thought you didn't trust me," Donghae blurts, too busy thinking about the fact that Eunhyuk – oops, Hyukjae – called him cute.

 

"I just figure you need it if you ever want to find me."

 

Donghae shrugs. "I think I'll crash into you eventually."

 

Hyukjae laughs. "Hopefully not literally?"

 

"Of course not!" Maybe, if you keep laughing like that.

 

"I'll see you around, Donghae," Hyukjae says, smiling as he slowly closes the door.

 

"Kiss me," Donghae whispers as the door closes. He swears he hears Hyukjae murmur, "I will," but he blames it on his overactive imagination as he drives off, watching Hyukjae walk off in the opposite direction.

 

He almost hits the curb, but seeing Hyukjae laugh off in the distance is worth it.

 

 

-

 

 

Donghae runs into his criminally good-looking passenger a week later, when a certain someone dressed in all black (minus the bag and mask this time, thank goodness) waves him over. Donghae, so distracted by his face, almost crashes into him.

 

"I didn't think you were serious about the crashing thing," Hyukjae teases, crawling into the back seat. But there's a grin playing his lips, and Donghae smiles.

 

"Running from the law again?"

 

"Nah, I got enough insoles last time to last me two months. I'm a free man 'till then."

 

Donghae laughs. "You know, if you're ever looking for a partner in crime..." he offers. Donghae isn't tough enough to make it in the world of bad guys, but hey, for Hyukjae, he could try. Besides, dressing in black and running away doesn't seem too hard.

 

"I'm looking for a partner all right." Donghae glances at him in the rearview mirror, and their eyes lock.

 

"Besides, I owe you that kiss you asked for," Hyukjae says, grinning. Donghae's eyes widen, and suddenly he's driving a lot faster to find somewhere to park.

 

For a criminal, Hyukjae sure does kiss innocently. At first, that is.

(and sorry this was labeled as complete when I was still writing it ugh how annoying... label something as oneshot and aff just assumes it's up before the first chapter is up. okay aff, okay.)

 

... oh my gosh you guys what is a plot anyways