Sunggyu smiled politely as the waitress took the menus and headed out of the room, closing the hanji door behind her and leaving the two boys sitting in silence for a moment. To say that Sunggyu was nervous was an incredible understatement. He expected to be at a normal family restaurant, but he was brought to an upscale establishment that gave their patrons the privilege of getting their own room and an amazing view of the city that gave way to the countryside.

Their conversation didn’t once go stagnant, luckily. Junho was pretty good at finding things to talk about and Sunggyu found himself following the other along.

“There's something I've been wondering about. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you took up dancing. What made you pick that up?” Sunggyu asked after their discussion of his hair color.

He explained that Haneul didn't remember what she mixed and in how many amounts to make his hair color such a beautiful red. So they decided to go with his natural hair color for a while and dyed his hair black. It was a compliment about how nice it made his skin look that made Sunggyu change the subject to Junho's current hobby.

“Taecyeon introduced me to it. He was a senior when I left here and entered high school in Ilsan. I wasn't the most popular kid in school, I mean, come on, you saw me. I was actually bullied a lot.”

Sunggyu's mouth slightly opened in surprise, “That's horrible.”

Junho waved it off, “Taecyeon saw a couple of guys cornering me and before they could lay a hand on me, called me over. That guy was really popular, as in, all the girls loved him and most of the guys wanted to be him. He's tall, dark and handsome,” he joked, “... I figured I'd have to become like him to get anywhere.

He took me under his wing, is one way you can put it. I guess he felt some sort of responsibility over me? But I'm thankful for it. I joined the dance club he was in once I saw it. It looked like a lot of fun. We're actually pretty famous up in Ilsan for it.”

“Oh... Is he still dancing?” Sunggyu asked.

“Yeah... he's actually in a company training right now. They scouted a couple of guys in the group already but most decided to finish school before dedicating their lives to something like that.”

“Wow, that's amazing. Are you saying you're going to become an idol one day?” Sunggyu asked, amazed at how much the other accomplished in only two years.

“That... depends... I can't date if I'm an idol,” Junho stated with a smile.

“Oh...” Sunggyu realized what the other was implying and he turned away to look at the pretty view instead. Junho couldn't possibly be giving him the choice to make such a life altering decision for him.

“Sunggyu—” the younger male was interrupted by a knock, and soon after the doors slid open, revealing the waitress with another young woman who helped her place the plates on the table.

They stayed silent throughout all of it, the occasional thank you being said before the waitress left them to enjoy the meal. Needless to say, the moment was lost and an air of awkwardness took hold of the room.

“So, um, you seem to be really close to Woohyun.”

Sunggyu's gaze lifted from his plate. He was a little surprised to hear the other hesitate, but he was even more surprised to hear Woohyun's name.

“I guess?”

“Does he... like you?” Sunggyu's eyes widened before scowling.

“Like me? What makes you think that? We're just friends.”

“Really? It's just that...he seems really comfortable with you,” Junho finished his sentence when he saw the questioning look Sunggyu was giving him.

“I wanna be that close to you too,” he lightly pouted.

“It wasn’t overnight, you know? I thought he was kind of stuck up, too much of a Romeo type.”

Junho laughed, “Really? Why do you say that?”

“He’s such a flirt. You should see him at school. He’s got all the girls going crazy for him. It’s kinda nuts. I never thought a new guy would bring so much commotion with him, and that’s not even counting how noisy those damn motorcycles are,” Sunggyu said animatedly, “…But he’s really a nice guy. Funny too.”

Sunggyu wasn't sure what to name the feeling that came over him when he realized it. He was spending time with Junho and yet he was talking excitedly about Woohyun. That couldn’t be right on a first date, or any date for that matter.

“Sounds like he’s kept you busy,” Junho smiled, “I’d like to make friends with him too.”

“I think you two would definitely get along,” Sunggyu agreed.

The younger male decided to change the subject, “So, you know how I told you about our dance group? Well, we were invited to a performance here in Jeonju.”

That definitely caught the raven haired male's attention, “Performance?”

“I'm sure you've heard of it. It's for the Last for One festival,” Junho tried to explain.

It took a moment for the light bulb to go off in Sunggyu and he gasped, “You mean you're performing at the Last for One event?!”

“Yes,” he answered with a smile, “We were invited by the organizers. Something about being inspirations for the younger generations. Sounds poetic.”

Another fact that blew Sunggyu's mind. Junho said they were pretty good, but he didn't think it was to that level. Junho was going places that would, in time, make him restricted and quite possibly unattainable. A heavy feeling settled on his heart. Junho was building his life and if he was going to chase the dream of an idol, there was just no place for him in that world. He wouldn't be able to date, and even if he could get away with it there was no way he could date a guy. That wasn't something that was looked upon favorably in the first place.

“That's great!” Sunggyu praised anyway.

For now he'd try to enjoy the date he'd given Junho. He was going to try and not dwell on things too much. He knew he tended to over-think things but he couldn't help himself. He'd ignore that nagging in the back of his head.

“You'll come see it?”

“Is this your way of asking me out again?” Sunggyu teased lightly.

Junho smiled, his cheeks taking on a small tint of pink, “Caught red handed.”

Sunggyu merely laughed softly but didn't answer him. The younger male didn't let that deter him in the slightest. They began to eat in a comfortable silence, only broken by small talk over the food, both of them stealing glances when they thought the other wasn't looking.

It wasn't until they were eating their dessert, the table cleaned from the huge meal earlier, that Junho decided to ask the question that was bugging him since the day before.

“This Park Gyuri, what happened with her?”

“…Park Gyuri...,” Sunggyu repeated before looking up at Junho, “She's someone you shouldn't concern yourself over.”

“Why's that?”

“She did give you her number in front of her boyfriend...”

“Yeah..., okay fair enough. So then should I throw this away?” He pulled out the folded piece of paper out of his pocket and threw it on the table.

Sunggyu recognized it without having to open it. Woohyun was right. Junho did keep the paper.

“I told you to do what you want with it,” Sunggyu said as he returned his attention to the patbingsoo in front of him.

“Looks like you want to say something else.”

“Are you sure it's not just something you want to hear me say?”

“Then say it for me.”

Sunggyu stared at the other for a couple of seconds. He knew what the other wanted. Junho wanted him to say to throw it away, to rip it to shreds and burn it, but he couldn't do that. He didn't have the right to forbid anyone from doing what they wanted (even though he did try a number of times but that's neither here nor there).

“Do what you want with it.”

“You're really stubborn,” Junho stated with a sigh.

“Surprise.”

“I like that.”

Sunggyu felt his face grow hot, “Shut up.”

Sunggyu was regretting mentioning he liked supernatural themed movies. He didn't do well with horror and the movie Junho chose was doing too good a job at scaring him. He couldn't count how many times he'd jumped and reached for Junho's arm. He resisted the urge to complain but he wasn't sure how much he could take before he jumped into the younger male's lap entirely.

He figured he'd reached his limit when the witch appeared in the woman's dreams and puked in the dreamer’s mouth. He gasped and started terribly, covering his mouth on instinct as he watched the scene unfold. It was enough to draw Junho's attention.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He nodded. He was just a bit squeamish and the scene just irked him in all the wrong places. He felt Junho take his hand. He allowed their fingers to slip effortlessly between each other. His attention diverted to their hands. Junho's hands were bigger than his. He couldn't help the warm feeling that spread from his hand. The simple gesture made it seem like it really was a date, like he was watching the required cliché scary movie with his boyfriend. He quickly diverted his thoughts back to the movie, and regretted it the moment he saw the lady coming out of the restroom, wiping clean. Junho must have felt him tense because he started the back of his hand with his thumb, trying to reassure him.

It was startling to feel how effective it ended up being, even more so when he wasn't overwhelmed with the need to pull away from his touch.

The movie came to an end about forty minutes later. They walked out of the darkened theater hand in hand but Sunggyu pulled his away the moment he caught sight of people. He didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. Junho understood and said nothing as they made their way back to the car, the people around them chattering on about the movie as they did the same.

“What was that back there?” Junho teased as he led the way, “I thought you liked supernatural things?”

“How was I supposed to know it was going to be that intense?” the black haired male argued.

“Should have gone for that romantic comedy.”

“Ugh, no thank you.”

Junho laughed as he pulled the door open for the older male. Sunggyu shuffled in embarrassingly. He wasn't able to get Junho to stop that. It made him feel odd but he didn't want to say that to him. He'd probably never hear the end of it.

Junho climbed in shortly after and soon the engine , giving way to a slight purr as the male pulled out of the parking lot. The ride was silent, the soft music wafting through the speakers as the two suddenly found themselves without words.

The senior kind of wished it stayed like that.

“Sunggyu?”

“Hm?”

“... Can I... hold your hand?”

He immediately felt his entire face burn before it spread throughout his body, “My hand...?”

“Yeah.”

Sunggyu knew he must have been blushing to his roots. He didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't want to but he didn't see why he shouldn't. It was a complicated emotion that even he couldn't comprehend. His lack of answer prompted some teasing from the other.

“Or do I need to scare you? Is that the only way you'll do it?”

“What? No!” the raven haired male said quickly. He didn't want to experience any scares in a car going 80 plus km/h on a highway.

Junho thought otherwise.

The car jerked suddenly to the side as Junho changed lanes. Sunggyu nearly yelped in surprise.

“Junho! This isn't funny!”

Another sudden jerk and Sunggyu was hanging on to the door handle.

“Hand?”

The dark haired male quickly reached out for Junho's unoccupied hand as he half-yelled, “This is blackmail!”

Junho only laughed as he held onto the other's hand, the ride becoming smooth again as the male steadied the wheel, “I think you meant coercion.”

“They’re both bad! This is the last time I'm riding in a car with you,” Sunggyu stated sourly. His only response was a soft squeeze of his hand and a chuckle.

Sunggyu bit his lip as he finally climbed out of the car, managing to move before Junho opened the door for him. He received a text message earlier. It was Haneul asking for his whereabouts. Apparently his mom was worrying her head off because it was late and they didn’t hear a word from him. He answered her quickly, telling her that he was on his way. He was hoping that was enough to calm her down. It probably didn’t work. The light of the foyer was on. Junho’s fingers slipped through his again and he glanced towards the Nam household. There was no one outside at all. It was late and a Sunday night, all of those with responsibilities were in bed at that time. He didn’t have to worry about being seen so he let himself relax.

“The event is this coming Saturday.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, so would it be okay to set our next date then?”

“Date…? You’ll be too busy, won’t you? I’d rather you not worry about it,” they climbed the steps up to the porch quietly.

The light was on as well and it illuminated them. Sunggyu pulled out his keys before setting his eyes on the other male and giving him a smile.

“Thank you, today was nice…,” he fiddled with his keys, “even though I probably won’t be able to sleep… scary possessions and even scarier driving being the cause.”

This made Junho chuckle. He pulled Sunggyu into an embrace meant to comfort, “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure the next one is a lot better.”

The senior stiffened for a moment, his arms trapped in between their bodies, but he relaxed when he realized how nice it felt. His body quickly became warm. All these new experiences were going to short circuit his brain and body. Everything was happening in too close intervals. He could only enjoy one for a short time before being hit with another. It was proven when he felt the other’s arms give him a small squeeze and he couldn’t help the small smile that graced his lips.

“So,” the male pulled away slightly, his arms still around the other, “Now can I have your number?”

“You just scared the life out of me and you’re expecting my number?” his face was a little serious, but it was only to tease the other.

But then the athletic male’s features turned serious too, “What can I do to make it up to you?”

Sunggyu’s heart started beating erratically when he noticed Junho’s eyes land on his lips. His whole body broke out into goosebumps at the implications of it. He took a step back only to realize that he was already standing against the wall and his eyes also moved down to the other’s full lips.

Was that how he was going to get his first kiss? Is that what he wanted? Why couldn’t he say anything? Why couldn’t he think?

“Mom! I think they’re back!”

That was Haneul.

It was his sister’s muffled voice that managed to get his motor skills working again and he lightly pushed the other away before upturning his hand. Junho stared at the hand, not fully processing the action until Sunggyu unintentionally giggled.

“Your phone?”

“Oh,” Junho chuckled in embarrassment before pulling his phone out and handing it to the older male.

Sunggyu wondered if the other was disheartened at being denied a kiss but he didn’t dwell on it, simply swiping the phone away from the lock screen and imputing his phone number. He handed the phone back soon after.

“Goodnight… and be careful.”

“I will. Goodnight.”