Donghae's POV

Oh gosh, I only have thirty minutes before they get here!

Stepping out of the steamy bathroom, I hastily pulled on my bathrobe, going over to the oversized walk-in closet. Turning to the right, where an entire wall of shirts hung neatly on display, I wrung the belt of my robe, scanning my eyes along the line, waiting for the perfect shirt to jump out at me. 

But after ten minutes of chewing my lip off and darting my eyes over the hangers, I began freaking out. 

There’s nothing to wear! 

This is the first time hanging out with Hyukjae outside the office and I don’t want to screw it up. If I do, he might not want to hang out with me anymore and that would be unfortunate because I really like talking to him.

I puffed my cheeks and started hooking through the closet. Between the clanking of metal hangers and the ruffle of fabric, I heard a knock at my bedroom door. 

I crossed the expanse of my bedroom to meet Sandara noona standing in the hall. She peered down curiously at my robe. “Not dressed yet?” 

“I can’t find anything to wear,” I whined, fiddling with my robe.

She clicked her tongue and reached over to pull at my cheek. 

“Well, you might want to find something, like, right now.” I was about to beg her for some help but she kept going. “Remember when you told me not to answer the door and to get you instead if someone came by?… Well, someone’s at the door.”

“What?! They’re here already?!” I broke out into a sprint back into the closet, grabbing the first outfit I could. Jeans and t-shirt on, I zipped out of the room.  

Sandara noona was right behind me as I scurried down the hall and hopped down the wide staircase. I hadn’t told her who I was meeting today so I bet she was curious.  

By the time we skidded into the foyer, I was trying to catch my breath. I wiped my clammy palms against my jeans and took a deep breath before pulling open one of the heavy wooden doors. 

… And I wasn't really sure what I was looking at. 

“You know, you might wanna give that dude at the front gate my name. He wouldn’t let me in because apparently I don’t look like I would know you. The hell? So what if I don’t look like some preppy rich boy? I had to literally show the guy a picture of the two of us. I mean, I know I don’t come around here often but it would be nice to avoid the hassle next time.” 

I stared blankly at my best friend who was decked out in a baggy white tank top that said ‘My Soul Was Removed to Make Room For All This Sarcasm’ that he paired with green shorts. He still had some bruising around his nose. 

Sandara noona poked her face over my shoulder and whispered into my ear, “You were nervous about hanging out with Kyuhyun?” 

I looked at her weirdly. 

“Are you going let me in?” Kyu flapped his arms uncomfortably. “I don’t know if you can tell but it’s freakin’ hot out here.”

Sandara noona and I shuffled aside so he could come in. I closed the door behind him and turned to watch him saunter into the foyer.

“Uh… Kyu? What are you doing… here?” I asked. I actually don’t need to because I know exactly why.  

“You said we were going to the circus,” he answered like it was the most obvious thing. “You did say they were coming at ten, right?”

I let out a sigh. I knew he had accepted yesterday too easily. Kyu really hates being blown off and I guess I should’ve seen this coming. “Kyu, I said I was going with Hyukjae and Sungmin hyung. I told you we were going to hang out later this week.” I in my bottom lip, hoping I wasn't being too mean about this. 

Sandara noona was still standing next to us and her face pulled up in surprise when she heard the names. 

Kyu scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t believe you almost blew me off to hang out with that monkey king.” Sandara noona giggled beside me and I just rolled my eyes. 

“Kyu~” I whined childishly. “You can’t go.”

“Why not?” he asked as if I had just offended entire ancestry. 

“Because that wasn’t the plan and besides they—”

“Screw the plan. I’m coming,” he answered stubbornly and I pouted, already knowing how this was going to end. So rather than fighting a battle that’s already lost, I just walked past him and paced back up the stairs to my room. Kyu followed behind proudly and Sandara noona stayed where she was, yelling out that she was going to stay there and ‘man the door’. 

“What’re you doing?” Kyu asked as he tailed close behind me back into my closet. 

“I still need to find something to wear.”

Seriously, there’s a whole closet in front of me and I can’t find anything. Maybe it’s because I have ugly clothes but just didn't notice before. Well that’s a depressing thought.

“What’s wrong with that?” Kyu looked confused as he pointed a lazy finger at the jeans and old t-shirt I had slipped on in a blind rush. 

I looked down at the shirt and then back up at Kyu. “I don’t know. It just doesn't feel right.” 

My best friend just shook his head. 

I let out an whiny noise and he responded by picking up the closest thing to him. “What about this?” 

I instantly turned around to hide the blush seeping into my cheeks. “Not that.” 

Kyu had picked out Hyukjae’s lilac shirt that he had let me keep after I spent the night over at his apartment. It was pretty comfy but wearing it to hang out with Hyukjae would be weird. 

Kyu stayed quiet until I piped up again. 

“I think I’m gonna wear this,” I said, holding up a elbow length striped shirt and khaki shorts. 

Kyu wasn't much help as he just shrugged, but my mind was already set. I shooed him out of the closet and changed. 

I came out into the bedroom and eyed myself in the full length mirror, smoothing out the fabric wrinkles and pulling pieces of my hair into a neat style. 

Kyu watched me from his seat on my bed. “Wow, you’ve really got the hots for this douche. I mean, you’re putting so much into this.”

I blushed but covered it up with an eye roll and instantly stopped tugging at my hair. 

“You say a lot of unnecessary things, you know that. Just because I want to look good doesn’t mean I like anyone,” I said firmly, still sneaking glances into the mirror. 

“No it doesn’t, but it’s just a piece of the bigger picture.” 

I rolled my eyes, not knowing what to say to that. 

Just then, Sandara noona came bustling into the room. “I think they’re here!” she yelled excitedly.

Once again my nerves tingled and I found myself on the journey back to the front door, this time with my two companions in tow. 

Pulling up short in front of the heavy wooden doors, I wiped my clammy hands against my shorts and took in a deep breath. 

The first thing my eyes caught sight of as the door moved out of the way was Hyukjae. He was standing with his hands in the pockets of his dark blue jeans. The late morning sun was shining behind him, falling around his face nicely. His hair was styled down today rather than how it usually and his grey button down shirt was rolled to the elbows and opened at the collar. Overall, he looked photo ready and I was caught in a dumb moment as I awkwardly gawked at his perfection. 

“Good morning, Donghae,” Hyukjae spoke first, smiling down at me as my attention slowly fixed its priorities. 

I reached into my head for words to say. I ended up fumbling out a shy ‘morning’ which Hyukjae looked pleased to hear. I returned his smile and he glanced off to the side, reaching one of his hands up to rub the back of his neck. 

A squeak from next to Hyukjae had me glancing over. Sungmin hyung was covering his mouth and all I could see was his crinkly eyes that shined with some unknown excitement.

“It’s just too PERFECT!” Sungmin hyung squealed delightfully. Hyukjae shot him a look but hyung ignored him and jumped at me. 

“Hi Sungmin hyung,”I said, giggling into his bear hug.

“Alright, alright,” Kyu pushed his way from behind me. “Let’s get moving so we can get this stupid day over with.”

As soon as he stepped beside me, his eyes met Hyukjae’s. Kyu immediately started glaring intensely and Hyukjae retaliated with an irritated look. 

Oh what am I going to do with these two? 

Sungmin hyung raised an eyebrow. “Who’s this?” he asked, looking at me for an introduction. 

“Oh, um, this is Kyuhyun, and… well, he’s going to be coming with us,” I said hesitantly. 

Hyukjae’s clenched his jaw, looking like he was struggling to keep his mouth shut, and Sungmin hyung’s face lit up with recognition. 

“So you’re the one who was harassing Hae in the lobby yesterday.” Sungmin hyung smirked when Kyu looked ready to bite. 

“Hae, can we just not go with these losers?” Kyu grunted, throwing nasty glares at both Sungmin hyung and Hyukjae. 

“Hey! Who are you calling a loser, kid?!” Sungmin hyung snapped. 

“Don’t you have a carrot to chew on, rabbit man?” Kyu threw back. 

Sungmin hyung snarled at the insult. 

Hyukjae looked just about done with this day already and sighed. Kyu caught the movement. “And you!” He pointed a finger in Hyukjae’s face. 

I panicked and pulled his hand down, not wanting to risk Kyu doing something stupid. But of course, Kyu’s mouth kept flying. 

“Don’t think I forgot about yesterday. You see this?!” He pointed angrily at the center of his face. Kyu was getting riled up for a long rant but Hyukjae interrupted him before he could say anymore. 

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. He looked like he was trying really hard to be as nice as he could. “I didn't know who you were and I misinterpreted the situation at the time.”

Kyu didn't look to be buying any of it, but I jabbed him lightly in the side. ‘Be nice’ I mouthed sternly. So he just huffed angrily and stayed quiet. Hyukjae didn't look at all fazed with Kyu’s reaction, but I smiled up at him in a silent ‘thank you’ for apologizing. 

Hyukjae cleared his throat. “Should we get going now?” he asked, speaking more to me than Kyu and Sungmin hyung. 

I brightened at the suggestion and nodded my head ecstatically. 

Sungmin hyung somehow forgot about his bickering with Kyu and shouted happily for us to head out, already bounding over to the car that I noticed was left closer to the front gate. 

Hyukjae looked at me expectantly as he nudged his head in the direction of the car as if silently asking me to go with him. And I complied, beaming as I fell into step next to him. Kyu followed along silently. 

By the time we were halfway down the path, Sungmin hyung was already at the car, yelling at us loudly. “Come on, guys! Any day now!”

Hyukjae just shook his head. “This wouldn't have happened if he had let me park the car closer… Saying useless things about me needing the extra exercise,” he nagged, clearly annoyed. 

I let out a laugh at how silly that sounded. “You don’t look like you need more exercise. If anything you look like you have the muscles of an athlete.” I giggled to myself thinking about it but then stopped short when I realized that I wasn’t meant to say any of that.

My face heated up and I turned to Hyukjae, frantically waving my hands around trying to take back what I said. “T-That’s not what I meant! I mean, I’m not saying I think you don’t have muscles because I’m sure you do— n-not that I’m thinking about that— but I-I just was trying to say— uh— I’m sorry!” I blurted out, almost tripping on the cobble stone. 

Hyukjae’s eyes were looking at me with surprise. When I finished attacking him with my apology, his eyes darted around the path beneath us and he ran a hand through his hair as he cleared his throat a couple of times. 

I stared at him in panic with my hands still waving in front of me, not knowing if he was going to be mad. 

“It’s, uh… it’s fine.” He said. 

I bit my lip, still feeling uneasy, but Hyukjae glanced at me and muttered, “Thanks. At least someone appreciates my time at the gym.” He let out an embarrassed laugh and I was thankful that I hadn’t ruined the mood. 

“You two are terrible.” We both looked back, surprised to find Kyu standing behind us with a disgusted look on his face. He pushed his way between us and continued walking towards the car, leaving Hyukjae and I sharing embarrassed looks.

so this "date" is going to end up taking over three chapters. 

this is the first part. i was actaully going to wait till i finished the other two so that i could post all three together but that's taking too long so here u go