The heat of the summer could have stifled anyone’s spirits into staying indoors, facing their precious air conditioners. But college student Lee Hongki roamed the streets of Seoul confidently. He had received a disturbing piece of information about no one but the infamous Choi Jonghun of the neighboring University. The mass-email sent to him described a female but he couldn’t help but choke when he first caught sight of the result of some kids’ joke on the poor fellow. He assessed Jonghun in his state of embarrassment with a criticizing eye.

The limps were obviously too long for that kind of short-sleeved shirt; the straight coal-black wig hung too low on his face, hiding perfect assets like that long nose and those shimmering eyes, fake lashes might have helped the pathetic excuse of a mascara; heels that high won’t get him to fool anyone, they just made his lanky figure wobble; the skirt though, was a work of art. Tight and snugger than a needy boyfriend, it hugged Jonghun’s buttocks and gave them a comforting ‘shape.’ Hongki never noticed Jonghun’s , because 1) Hongki didn’t have time to notice other people’s butts since he’s a narcissist who looked at his own admiringly; 2) Jonghun always wore those stupidly baggy jeans everywhere he saw him. The legs however were smooth without a speck of hair, which made Hongki admire Jonghun’s shaving skills but they looked far too slick with some oil. It just made Jonghun’s pale color look even sicker. Overall, the dare would nowhere be accomplished with this mess of a cross-dress.

Hongki eased his way into the square by taking short strides to the object of his attention.

Jonghun’s shoulders stiffened visibly and those heels stopped tapping softly to the ground when Hongki gently tapped his right shoulder. He turned around to the awkward truth that he towered Hongki with good twenty centimeters. Jonghun’s face comically blanched and he swallowed heavily.

“What are you doing here?”

“I got an e-mail.”

“People still send those?”

“Yeah,” the smirk was obvious in Hongki’s voice.

They couldn’t avoid the elephant between them but Jonghun chose to pivot and walk away. Awkwardly and too fast on those damned heels, Jonghun ended up gasping with his hands on his knees not a block away. Hongki found him effortlessly, not a single speck of sweat on his smooth face.

“Why’d you do that?” Hongki sounded annoyed but Jonghun’s pants were loud and they omitted the noise of everything but his pumping heart and failing lungs.

“I (breath) don’t know (breath),” he waved a hand in front of his face to get it to stop sweating and his other hand propped against his painful hipbone.

“Damn these heels,” he grumbled once his breath was steady enough. Hongki didn’t comment.

Jonghun had no idea what went in Hongki’s mind but he doubted he wanted to know. “Listen, everyone knows I was gonna do this, yet they had the delicacy not to show up—”

“Let’s go shopping,” Hongki interrupted with a life-deciding smile that made Jonghun squint through the contact lenses. He needed to rest somewhere before his knees buckled.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” resigned, Jonghun took the hand Hongki offered. What a gentleman, he commented cynically.

Unlike Jonghun’s immaculate reputation, although he had rumors circling about him being gay, which weren't quite right, he was biual. Anyway, Jonghun had a bit of a playboy aura around him on campus but Hongki was one to be best known for rebellious acts against professors who pissed him off; hanging out with the ‘cool’ guys; dressing in whatever he liked and still ‘looking good enough to ravish’–he heard a girl say once before class began; and Hongki was an overall self-centered . Why he would help him by going shopping? He had no idea.

He followed silently. Although Jonghun didn’t talk, his clothes did. The loud clack of the heels sounded like a hammer on hot iron in every step he took. The wig got wet with his sweat, hence heavier. He wondered what he had in mind when he chose such a bothersome long wig.

They walked into alleys and corners Jonghun didn’t bother registering in his brain map. He meekly glanced at Hongki and then at their hands, still clasped in the middle of them with Hongki leading the way. It felt a bit foolish to be this tall and still hold Hongki’s hand as if it protected him from danger. Although he was biual, he knew Hongki was straighter than an arrow. He didn’t go developing feelings for guys on a daily basis but the protective intertwining hand-holding got his chest to tighten with an accelerating heart.

They entered a small boutique, it was empty from customers and Jonghun understood why. Not that the merchandise lay on the floor but the small place felt crowded even when the only customers were him and Hongki plus the shop assistant by the casher. Hongki chummily called the older woman with her name, his smile revealing his canines proudly. Jonghun felt watched but the woman gave one glance at the hands next to his aching hips and she smiled knowingly. He thought he was done for, he was going to be the biggest clown in town, but then she smiled KNOWINGLY. Panic settled like a slow drum preparing for his slaughter.

Hongki suddenly let go of his hand and Jonghun felt somehow lost under the peering eyes of the middle aged lady.

He chose to clank away after Hongki, though he didn’t have to do much walking as much he had to slither between racks of female clothing. Hongki seemed immersed in his job of picking stuff. He glanced rarely at Jonghun himself, unless he wanted to check if the shirt he got was the right size. Jonghun worriedly glanced at himself in the full-body mirror on the changing room’s door. He really looked silly. Albeit he was lean, his bones just seemed too big for the outfit he had on. His stomach was flawlessly flat, but the shirt only made him look like a long-armed stuffed doll.

He stood there for three minutes before Hongki pushed him in with a quick, “try these on.”

Hongki had more than three outfits in hand but he gave the pieces one by one to Jonghun to put them on. Inside the changing room, Jonghun chucked away the wig, and took off the heels. He sighed in relief for the instantaneous pain-relief shooting through his feet, and proceeded to take off his current clothes.

There was a knees’ length skin-tight black skirt in the pile that Hongki handed, it weirdly fit him. He didn’t bother admire how his regained shape in it, and put on the frilly black and white sleeveless shirt. It was patterned heavily with black stripes and squares. It even had this sort of design that made them shorter on the back than on the front. He didn’t bother admire it too long and just tucked it inside the skirt. He noticed a belt, narrow and silver. He buckled it to the front of the skirt and put on the quarter four sleeved dirty pink cardigan. The thing hung softly against him, it didn’t feel like another layer, just a cover on top of his smooth skin. Surprisingly, it made his arms seem less bulky than before. His shoulders weren’t squared in defeat as he looked at himself in the mirror inside the small room. He heaved a sigh nonetheless because he had to put on the wig again if he wanted to show Hongki the result.

Hongki’s eyes comically widened when he opened the door. He stared shamelessly until Jonghun’s pale face colored with a definite blush. Sure that he must have looked stupid, he started to shut the door. Hongki stopped the door with his foot. Jonghun heard the slight wince.

“What?” Jonghun asked snappily. He decided he had enough of Hongki’s unreadable expressions.

“You look gorgeous.” Jonghun gaped.

“We just need to get you into these.” Hongki didn’t bother explain his comment with an ‘I’m not gay,' excuse, he handed him a pair of flat shoes, a slightly darker shade than the cardigan.

Jonghun slipped easily into them and smiled without care at the comfortable insoles.

“Perfect,” Hongki whistled without care. He seemed proud of the result. And in a fleeting second, Jonghun felt so proud of himself for being able to pull-off such outfit. It looked simple and nice without any excessive accessories or anything. He looked pitifully at the pile of his previous outfit in the dressing room.

“Excuse me, could you get rid of these?” Jonghun said to the peering eyes of the older lady. He knew she heard him. Embarrassingly, his voice had already a smooth tone; he didn’t need to soften it dramatically to sound like a female. He pitied anyone for falling into his trap.

Surprisingly, Hongki paid for his clothes and shoes, he said they were a present. Jonghun narrowed his eyes but he kept his wallet in the small purse Hongki picked out, black leather and smooth with long straps that made the square bag fit perfectly against his hip.

They exited the boutique and walked through a straight alley; thankfully, it was clean and didn’t have any gooey stuff to stick to his new shoes. He noted the overly-proud tone he chose to think of his clothes and how they were chosen by a person he scarcely knew.

The alley gave them a clear short-cut into the main street. They blended in easily with people.

“Now what?” Jonghun wanted to ask but he zipped his mouth close.

He wasn’t one to be very meek but he had a large percentage of docility in himself so he couldn’t help but follow behind Hongki into a residential area.

“Where are we going?” he asked worriedly. Is this where he gets his into trouble?

Hongki glanced back at him, and as if realizing that he had a good looking girl following, he reached for Jonghun’s free left hand without care.

“I’m gonna fix that wig and your face.”

Fix my face? Jonghun narrowed his eyes at Hongki’s reply. He chose to ignore it since the heart-thundering in his chest returned with the hand-holding. Dude, he really needed to get his emotions under control. He’d been lonely for some time now but that didn’t mean he went after straight guys he barely knew just because they held his hand and picked up clothes for him. And called him gorgeous.

Oh man, I’m totally smitten, he realized with a grimace on his face.

To be continued, I am just testing the water with this piece. It won’t be long, and very light. Enjoy.