Midnight Date
Midnight Date
Hongbin sighed as he followed the narrow path through the park. There were trees on both sides, and every ten feet or so there would be a tree with a little blue paper lantern hanging from its branches. Hongbin had raised an eyebrow at the first few, but then gave up on questioning it. It was Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk always had these crazy schemes that usually involved sneaking into places in the middle of the night. And somehow or another, he always managed to drag Hongbin into it. Not that Hongbin was really complaining. The maknae’s crazy ideas usually ended up being pretty fun.
Which is why Hongbin was now here, in the middle of a closed park, in the middle of the night, and in the middle of who knows what kind of trouble. Sanghyuk’s note (which Hongbin had found stuck to his forehead after waking up from an afternoon nap) was vague, as usual. It simply stated to meet him “at that tree on the hill with the knot that looks like Jaehwan-hyung’s at midnight”. He would have known the tree without the comment, since they had often sat together in this spot and talked. The clearing at the top of the hill was the perfect spot to sit and look up at the stars. Hongbin checked his watch for the hundredth time. 12:17. He may have gotten a little lost before he found the lantern trail. He hoped Sanghyuk hadn’t already gotten into trouble without him.
Finally, the little dirt path started leading up an agonizingly steep hill. Hongbin huffed. He was already exhausted from the day’s extended dance practice, and this “stroll” through the woods was about to kill him completely. As he neared the top of the hill, he noticed that the -tree was strung up with the same paper lanterns that had led him there. Only this time, there were at least twenty of them in various sizes and colors. At the base of the tree, there was a tall figure, slumped over, with their elbows propped on their knees.
“Han Sanghyuk, this better be good!” Hongbin hissed as he hobbled toward the tree. The figure jerked around in surprise, then scrambled to their feet.
“Hyung! You came!” Sanghyuk half shouted as he jumped up and down excitedly. Hongbin put one hand over the younger’s mouth and one hand on his shoulder to hold him down.
“Quiet! You want us to get caught out here?!” Hongbin sighed as Sanghyuk suddenly stopped bouncing and gave him an innocent puppy look. He knew the maknae was anything but an innocent puppy, but he withdrew his hands anyway. “Okay, what’s your harebrained scheme this time?”
Sanghyuk grinned and gestured to the blanket that he had previously been sitting on. Hongbin furrowed his brows, clearly not understanding. Sanghyuk knelt down and started digging through his backpack, which was leaned up against the tree. He finally found what he was looking for and stood up to present it to Hongbin. It was a small navy blue food container. Hongbin hesitantly took it and popped it open, half expecting a small animal to jump out and attack his face. But there was no small animal, only faintly steaming spaghetti. Hongbin looked back up at the younger, twice as confused as before.
“It’s your favorite, right? Oh!” Sanghyuk suddenly knelt down and pulled out another container, proudly opening it and holding it out to Hongbin. “I also have sweet and sour pork! Taekwoon-hyung helped me with them! I cooked them both myself, hyung!”
Hongbin didn’t know whether to feel touched or terrified. It wasn’t that Sanghyuk never did nice things for others; it was just that Hongbin wouldn’t put it past the demon maknae to poison his food. Sanghyuk, either not sensing Hongbin’s apprehension, or just not caring, sat down on the blanket and started pulling more blue containers out of his backpack. With each container came more and more of Hongbin’s favorite foods.
Hongbin was incredibly confused.
“Sanghyuk…” he started, sitting down across from the maknae as he tried to find the right words. “Not that I’m complaining, because this really looks and smells delicious… but… what’s the occasion here? You know my birthday isn’t for months, right?”
Sanghyuk laughed.
“Of course I know when your birthday is. And I know it’s not tonight. No, tonight is something better! Now, eat! Before it gets cold!” Sanghyuk said happily and handed Hongbin a pair of chopsticks that somehow matched the containers.
Hongbin eyed the younger skeptically as he took a bite of the potentially poisoned sweet and sour pork. He froze, momentarily surprised at how good it tasted. He tried to push the poisoned thoughts to the back of his mind as he took another bite. Sanghyuk watched him, smiling brightly as ever.
“Do you like it, hyung?” he asked quietly, earning a nod and soft smile from Hongbin.
“So,” Hongbin asked as he reached for the spaghetti. “What occasion is better than my birthday, exactly?”
Sanghyuk beamed.
“It’s our anniversary!”
Hongbin choked on the spaghetti. Without missing a beat, Sanghyuk pulled a bottle of water out of his seemingly bottomless backpack and offered it to Hongbin. Hongbin snatched the bottle, twisted it open, and poured its contents down his throat. Sanghyuk waited patiently while Hongbin’s coughing and sputtering subsided.
“It’s our what?” Hongbin asked, not quite believing he heard it right. The younger only grinned.
“Our anniversary! Of the day we first met! Don’t you remember, hyung?” he said simply, tilting his head to the side and giving Hongbin the cutest puppy face he had ever seen.
Honestly, no, Hongbin couldn’t remember. Why would he? That was a long time ago and Hongbin was terrible with dates anyway. He suddenly felt a little bad that he had forgotten something that apparently meant a lot to Sanghyuk. Wait, why did it mean a lot to Sanghyuk?
“Why is that important, Hyukkie?” Hongbin asked carefully. Sanghyuk hung his head and mumbled something that Hongbin didn’t catch. “What was that?”
“I said, ‘because I really like you, hyung’,” he mumbled again, though this time Hongbin heard him quite clearly.
“You… like me?” he questioned, wanting to make sure he understood what the younger meant. Sanghyuk nodded, suddenly looking rather nervous. “Like… like me like me?”
Sanghyuk sighed and looked up.
“Yes, I like you like you. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while but… I didn’t know how to tell you without creeping you out… so I thought if I did something really cute you wouldn’t be creeped out and you might actually think it’s cute and that I’m cute and that you might want to go out with me on a date or something and…” he trailed off, deciding he’d rather play with the hem of his jeans than look back up to see Hongbin’s reaction.
The two sat in silence for several minutes. Hongbin suddenly scooted closer to Sanghyuk and gently took one of his hands.
“This is pretty cute, Hyukkie.” Hongbin said softly.
Sanghyuk jerked his head up, shocked.
“Y-you’re not creeped out?!” he stuttered. Hongbin chuckled and shook his head.
“Surprisingly, no. This is actually a really sweet way to tell me…” Hongbin mumbled as he absentmindedly played with Sanghyuk’s long fingers, causing the younger to blush slightly. “And I already think you’re cute…”
Sanghyuk’s face turned completely red, but he quickly regained his composure.
“So… you might actually go on a second date with me?” he asked mischievously. Hongbin nodded.
“Yes, I-wait, what? Second?!” Hongbin’s eyes shot open in surprise. “When did we go on a first date?!”
“I think this counts as a first, don’t you, hyung?” Sanghyuk said innocently. Hongbin glared daggers at the younger.
“Han Sanghyuk did you trick me into going on a date with you?!” he nearly shouted. Sanghyuk beamed.
“Maybe… but that’s not the important thing here! The important thing is that you think I’m cute and I think you’re cute and I think we’d be even cuter together so we should definitely go out on more dates!” the younger chirped happily, reaching for one of the long forgotten food containers and holding it out to the elder. “More spaghetti, hyung?”
Hongbin sighed in defeat and accepted the container. The two sat in a comfortable silence as they began to eat the now cold feast that Sanghyuk had made for them.
“Sanghyuk… is this the sheet off my bed?” Hongbin asked suddenly, looking down at the blanket they were sitting on.
Sanghyuk leaned over and pecked Hongbin lightly on the lips, effectively distracting and silencing the elder. Hongbin sighed as the younger pulled away.
What had Sanghyuk gotten him into this time?
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