“You did WHAT?” Donghae shouted, stunned, and covered his mouth with both his hands.

“You didn’t, did you?” Asked Hyukjae at the same time.

Henry sent them a wide grin. “You should have seen him. He’s… well, he’s a real eye candy. I couldn’t help myself.”

“An eye candy? Seriously?” Hyukjae pulled a face at him, “Ew, is this phrase still in use?”

“Shut up. I meant he's handsome. And he was so cute, being all awkward and stuff,” Henry’s eyes became dreamy as he got lost in his memories of the tall police officer-to-be.

Donghae exchanged worried expressions with his boyfriend.

“Mmm…” Hyukjae began, “Henli, we don’t want to distract you or anything, but…”

“Even if he’s not an officer yet,” Donghae continued,

“He’s still an authority.”

“He works with the police.”

“No joke, Henli,” said Hyukjae, “I understand you have hots for him, but what if…”

“What if what you did will bring you some… consequences?” Donghae asked hesitantly.

“Nasty ones?” Hyukjae added.

Henry let out an annoyed sign. “Guys, you are no fun! No fun at all!” And he got up from the bench in the school courtyard the three of them usually occupied during breaks and free periods.

Donghae shook his head, lost for words. “Who in their right mind ignores a policeman telling them to give him their parents’ phone number and gives him their own?”

Hyukjae chuckled. “Henry Lau, apparently.”

          Henry couldn’t help but be a little anxious after the talk with his classmates. The two of them were exchange students, spending a year in China, and Henry grew really close to them over the past few months. They were both terrible in Mandarin, so he felt better in their company, since his own Chinese wasn’t perfect either. In their conversations they often stuck to Korean (which Henry happened to speak fairly well) and became close enough to share their little secrets and joke around with one another. It helped that they were both gay, just as Henry was, so there wasn’t any awkward situations between them. Donghae and Hyukjae were happy when they heard that their little Hanli finally found someone he liked, but they smiles were wiped off their faces as they heard the rest of the story about the unfortunate bike ride and the phone number.

          He had thought they would approve of his crazy decision and congratulate him on this brilliant idea. But they didn’t. Instead, they seemed really worried about what could await Henry later because of his disobedience.

“But he didn’t tell whose number he wanted to have!” He muttered under his breath, trying to convince himself that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

You knew he wanted to contact your parents since you’re underage, sung the voice in his head.

“My parents live in Canada!”

Still, they have their phone there, don’t they?

“But I wanted him to have my number!” Henry said loudly, drawing attention of a group of girls passing by, all of whom giggled at his outburst.

          Later in the afternoon Henry couldn’t concentrate on anything. Even playing the violin didn’t help him calm down. He was pacing around his room, constantly thinking about one thing. Will ‘Zhou intern’ call him and if, what will be his reaction to the fact that he disobeyed his order? And what was Henry supposed to say?

          When his mobile phone went off, he jumped and leapt over his bed to the desk where the phone lied. He answered the call without looking at the caller ID, with his eyes shut tight.

“Yes?”

“Hi Henli!”

“Hae! It’s you!”

“Of course it’s me, dummy. Has he called?”

“Not yet. I’m so stressed out now and it’s all your and Hyuk’s fault!” He answered.

“Aw, sorry if we made you nervous. We’ll keep our fingers crossed, then. Call me when it’s over, okay?”

Henry nodded and then added a small ‘Sure, Hae’ after realising the other couldn’t see him.

A moment after Henry hung up and placed the phone on the desk, it rang again. Convinced it was Donghae again, intending to tell him something he forgot to mention before, he answered and said with annoyed voice,

“What else, you stupid fish?”

There was silence on the other side, followed by a silent grunt. “Good afternoon, this is Zhou Mi, an intern at Beijing Police Traffic Department, may I speak with Mr or Mrs Lau?”

Oh, that voice, Henry thought, I could listen to it for hours. And this formal tone. And 'Mi', such a beautiful and cute name!

Hearing Zhou Mi’s gentle voice made Henry pluck up some long forgotten courage. “I’m afraid it’s impossible, sir,” he answered, “They’re not here at that moment.”

“Then when will it be possible for me to reach them?”

Henry smirked. “I’m really sorry, but they’re out of the country.”

“Oh,” Zhou Mi said, puzzled. He felt silent for a while, seemingly getting all the pieces of information together into one, “If so, whose number is this? I thought I asked for… Is that you, Henry?”

“Yes it is, sir,” Henry replied smugly.

“You were supposed to give me your parents’ phone number, not yours,” the intern said sternly.

So this is the time to play innocent, Henry thought. “Oh, really?” He asked, feigning astonishment.  “I’m sorry, sir. I must have been really nervous then, I gave you this number out of habit, please forgive me. Is there a way I could fix this?”

“You c-can just give me their number now, Hen-“

“Oh! I’m really sorry, I have to go, someone’s knocking on the door, can I visit you at the police station and give you my parents' number then? Please, sir, I have to hang up now.”

“Well then, p-please come to the Xicheng Police Station, to the Traffic Management Bureau, I’ll be there tomorrow from 8 to-“

Henry didn’t let him finish the sentence. He shoved his phone away and grinned to himself. He had a date with Zhou Mi. Well, not exactly. But he would have one, sooner or later.

          The next day Henry’s classes started at noon. In spite of that he got up early, dressed carefully, styled his hair into a nice ‘organised mess’, blinked at his reflection in the mirror and went out, jumped onto his bike and dashed to the police station. It was fifteen past eight when he reached his destination. He quickly made his way inside the large building and stood in front of a large information board. the Traffic Management Bureau was situated on the fifth floor.

          Inside the elevator, impossibly crammed with people in suits and uniforms, Henry could feel his heart speed up with anticipation. He was wondering how would Zhou Mi react when he learned that Henry had no intentions of giving him his parent’s numbers.

          Henry thought it was his lucky day, because as soon as he exited the elevator and took a large breath of relatively clean air (those men there used way too much cologne), he spotted Zhou Mi walking out of the men’s bathroom. He wasn’t in his green uniform – he was wearing a grey suit, his slacks emphasizing the length of his legs and on his nose there were thick-rimmed glasses. He looked perfect.

“Good morning!” Henry greeted him cheerfully.

“Oh, g-good morning!” How can be so adorably shy? Henry smiled. “My superior isn’t here yet, so the office I work in is empty, we can… talk there. Follow me, Henry.”

           They walked along the long corridor together, arm in arm, in silence. Zhou Mi stopped before one of the door on the left, opened it and let Henry go inside first. In the room, the elder sat down on a swivel chair behind one of the two desks that stood inside and showed Henry another one in front of him.

           Zhou Mi rummaged through his papers in a hurried way. His hands were trembling a little; he was nervous again and Henry was trying to think of a way to start a conversation. The silence started to be a little uncomfortable, to say the least.

“How old are you?” Henry blurted out.

Zhou Mi raised his head abruptly. “Excuse me?”

“How old are you… sir?”

Zhou Mi blushed and Henry had to stifle this urge to pinch the other’s cheek. “Ah… I’m twenty.”

Twenty. Thank you, God. “Can I call you ‘gege’, then?” He asked. “It’s weird calling you ‘sir’, and you’re not an officer yet, so…”

“Oh. Y-yes, I guess you can. Yes.”

“Great!” Henry beamed and Zhou Mi smiled timidly.

“Okay, so l-let’s get to the point,” he murmured. “I have your personal information here, now please give me-“

          The door opened suddenly. A woman in her late twenties entered the room. She spoke to Zhou Mi in a very urgent manner, using very complicated phrases and words Henry hadn’t heard before. He assumed it had something to do with Zhou Mi’s internship. Zhou Mi answered her, his tone serious and his voice confident. He didn’t falter even once. The woman thanked Zhou Mi and excused herself. As soon as she was out, the young man in front of Henry was back to his bashful self. He avoided Henry’s eyes and kept wriggling in his chair. He wasn’t like this when he spoke on the phone thinking he was talking to someone else. He wasn’t like this when he spoke to that moment a moment ago. Does it mean he’s like this only in front of me? Henry wondered. “Zhou Mi gege,” he said quietly, “look at me, please.”

Zhou Mi’s cheeks flushed bright red again, but he let his eyes meet Henry’s. Henry smiled sincerely at him and asked, “Is there a reason you’re so nervous? Is it my fault?”

Zhou Mi dropped his pen to the floor. “N-no, I’m not n-nervous at all, everything is fine, I-“ he muttered and dove under the desk to pick the pen up. “I’m not nervous at all,” He repeated.

Henry shook his head. “I think I don’t believe you, gege.”

Zhou Mi let out a panicky chuckle. “But-but I’m okay! What can I do to make you believe me?”

Now or never. “Go out for coffee with me, Mi gege.”

“Okay.” Zhou Mi answered without hesitation.

“What?” Henry couldn’t believe his ears.

Zhou Mi kept his gaze on his lap. “I-I’d like to go for coffee with you.”

It was Henry’s turn to start stuttering. “O-Okay, that’s great, I- I’ll call you, then. Is the phone number you called from-“

“Yes.” Zhou Mi cut in, “Yes.”

          That was way too easy, Henry thought, mounting his bicycle five minutes later, grinning from ear to ear.