Pair: KenBin ; implied HyukBin (friendship)

Do you know the feeling when the saying “Do not judge a book by its cover,” suddenly hit you and smack the back of your head? That was exactly how he got to know this person. He was likened to a book if not a bit more complicated.

Hongbin first met him at a small pub where Han Sanghyuk, a colleague and a junior of his, worked as a trainee bartender. To celebrate his lanky friend’s first job that time, Hongbin was offered to tag along the latter’s workplace for free drinks which he gladly accepts knowing the younger’s skill too well. The drink was great as he had expected but he felt a little dizzy and ended up taking a breather outside. It wasn’t even the drink that got to him. It was the smoke, the strong mix of perfumes and that bloody awful dubstep that’s blasting the dance floor that really put him off the edge. So Hongbin excused himself for awhile and there he was at the corner, near the dim lamp post. He was wearing all black, all leather and a very blunt cap that says '' with an inverted ‘U’ on it.

Since for some odd reason there was a freaking Chime hanging near the entrance, Hongbin’s presence was easily given away, their eyes meeting inevitably in the night. The guy moves his way towards him, aura darker than everything he was wearing, and spontaneously introducing himself. “Lee Jaehwan,”

“Lee Hongbin,” he replies in a heartbeat, putting his hands in his pockets. He sees the other male upfront, beautiful eyes, noticeable long lashes and quite the perfect nose he had ever seen in his life that almost had Hongbin mistaken him for a foreigner. Jaehwan wasn’t though, much to his relief.

“Too noisy?” Jaehwan asked voice low but not as low as his. There was something playful in his tone and Hongbin likes it.

“Bad music,” Hongbin replies honestly, shaking his head again in disappointment. “Terrible actually,”

Jaehwan gives him a peculiar look before breaking into a melodious laughter that made Hongbin’s stomach churn in an odd way. Hongbin was too distracted with that laugh that he didn’t noticed how Jaehwan fished his right hand out of his pocket to drag him back inside. Hongbin was belatedly surprised and confused but did not find himself resisting at all, focusing on the warmth his feeling on his palm instead. Jaehwan let’s go quickly to his dismay when they entered but gives him an unexpected wink before jogging his way up to the stage. Sanghyuk, whom he almost forgot, suddenly pops out of nowhere snaking his long arm around his shoulders and snickering.

“I thought you really left,”

“Huh?” Hongbin barely hears the younger lad as he partly looks away from Jaehwan who just threw off his leather jacket haphazardly to the side of the stage, revealing a tattered sleeveless hugging his lean build that made Hongbin unconsciously the bottom of his lips. Jaehwan happens to show off his caramel hair as well when he threw his vulgar cup on the now roaring crowd that seemed like were waiting for him the whole time. The music started and made itself known, mixing with chants and pitchy screams from the ladies.  It was booming and it was a hundred percent better than what was playing earlier.

“That’s my trainee mate, Lee Jaehwan! I was going to introduce him to you but you beat me to it!” Hyuk practically yells to his ears, cracking up a little in the process. “We call him DJ Ken here! I was going to match you with him since he’s kinda lonely and you’re also lonely—And needs to get freaking laid!”

Hongbin turns to younger sharply and pushes him off violently, alarmed that people within earshot just heard his vulgarity. He would’ve glared at the younger but his gaze got caught up on Jaehwan again who was, at that time, swaying to his music sinfully with his clothes revealing more skin that made Hongbin's skin crawl and feel uncomfortably hot.

“Based on that look, you’re up to it!” Sanghyuk says cheekily.

Hongbin smacks him on the head in an impulse and the younger swiftly scrambled to escape from his next assault. Hongbin was about to follow him when the lights turned red and an emergency alarm was set off. He was in between panicking—clueless of what’s going on—when the music started again, volume higher. The clubbers started moving forward and heedlessly dragging him with them. The beer sprinklers started to pour from above, effectively intensifying the atmosphere. The crowd positively reacts to the stage play with so much enthusiasm that the upbeat music started to get muffled with all the noise they’re making which left him to be the only person thinking of getting away from there and fast. Hongbin has always been the drinking type and not the actual partying type of a clubber so he wasn’t fond of what just happened, especially when his new suit just got ruined. He grumbled internally at his state until his eyes fall on the man of the night. Jaehwan had jumped off the stage, squeezing through the crowd and coming at him. He sheepishly laughed when he tripped over a wire on his way to Hongbin.

“I was going to say you were cool but…well—“

“Hey! I did my best,” he chuckled, carelessly hanging his arm around Hongbin’s shoulder to drag him out of the crowd. They went near the club’s entrance which was the only spacious area left besides the bar’s counter and restroom. “How’s the music now though?”

“Better,” Hongbin admits, nodding his head before cautiously hooking his hand on the latter’s waist. It doesn’t go unnoticed though as Jaehwan flinched upon contact of Hongbin's slim fingers grazing on his skin. 

Jaehwan kisses him spontaneously, arms circling over his shoulder and fingers lacing through his auburn locks. Hongbin quickly kisses back without much thought, pushing the latter on the wall and slipping his fingers on the delicate contour of Jaehwan’s abdomen. He had many hookups before but never was it with someone he was actually fond of. Hongbin was quite the workaholic to get picky and there are times he just needed release. He can settle for an average but this man was different, incomparable and breathtakingly beautiful. He can finally thank Sanghyuk genuinely this time.

“Sorry…” he says breathless, throwing his head back to catch his breath. Hongbin stayed close however, intoxicated with the scent of Jaehwan and the plump lips he can’t stop looking at.

“I’m not sorry though,” Hongbin says confidently, mind fogged up. He planned to initiate the kiss this time but was stopped by an index finger over his lips.

“Wanna get a drink?”

Hongbin almost said ‘no’ but had gotten back with the last drop of sanity he has left in his system. He was being too excited which was unlike him. He also didn’t want to come up that needy.

“Y-yeah sure,”

“I’ll be back then,” Ken giggled before slipping from his hold and disappearing in the crowd.

To his disappointment, Jaehwan really disappeared and never came back that night. Sanghyuk informed him that Jaehwan had to run an errand and needed to leave quickly. The man did however asked for his number, slightly lifting Hongbin’s spirits up but then draining it back down after not receiving anything from the latter. Sanghyuk ends up giving Jaehwan’s number to Hongbin when the older grew impatient of waiting. The younger hid the fact that he was trying to contact the DJ as well but to no avail too.

“Sorry hyung, looks like he left for real.” Sanghyuk told him a few days later, when the younger visited his apartment. He brought a few drinks with him and Hongbin knew there’s a bad news up ahead.

“Left?”

“He quitted being DJ. The manager told me yesterday,”

Hongbin’s mouth was left hanging from shear shock, his heart painfully and rapidly pummeling his chest. He was waiting for nothing. He was angry and upset that all twelve cans of beer that the younger had brought was chugged down most by him.

Sanghyuk felt guilty enough to let him drown back to his office work to keep the older distracted to a lost cause. Hongbin was aware of it