The two boys in the middle of the room were lost in their private little world, all their senses in tune to each other, oblivious to the noise outside the door as they held each other. Mino had one hand on Taehyun's head, fingers threading through the silky, luscious locks while the other hand holds the younger boy's waist. Taehyun's hand was holding onto the waistband of Mino's pants while another was exploring Mino's backside. Their lips never leaving each other even to take a breath as they explored each other's mouths. A loud bell resounding pulled them apart in an instant, it seemed to be the fire alarm. They looked at each other with wide open eyes and Mino, realising the situation, pulled Taehyun's hand to move them out of the room.

"My shoes!" Taehyun exclaimed pulling his hand away to bend down and get his shoes off the floor.

"No time!" Mino panicked as he could hear everyone running out, some people screaming from fear and some shouting at others to hurry.

"But..." Taehyun protested as he tried to put his foot in one shoe but Mino acted quickly grabbing Taehyun's shoe and offered his back to him. 

"C'mon, faster!" he said pulling on Taehyun's arm and lifted the boy up on his back, rushing out of the room, into the hallways where the sprinkler system had started spraying water everywhere and ran towards the exit of their dorm building. He deposited Taehyun on the first stone slab he could find and gave his shoes so he could finally put them on.

"What was...?" Taehyun started feeling a little put out at being carried like that.

"We can't have you hurting your feet," Mino said absent-mindedly as he looked around the people milling in the courtyard in their dorm building. He observed the building but could not find any source of the fire yet.

"Oh my god! Bobby! Where's Bobby?" Taehyun exclaimed in fear.

"! and my friends. BOBBY!" Mino called out at the top of his lungs. "BOBBY! ZICO! P.O.! KYUNG! KRYSTAL! MINZY!" he continued shouting, looking around worriedly. "SULLI! SEUNGHOON HYUNG! JINWOOOOO!"

Taehyun also got up, finished putting on his shoes. Mino hurriedly grabbed hold of his hands again as they went off in search of their friends calling out their names.

"It's okay, we're fine!" someone called out to them from the left and they saw Kyung making his way towards them.

"What happened? Where are the others?" Mino asked hurriedly.

"It was nothing. I was there. Some guy dropped a lit joint in a garbage bin full of paper and Zico, seeing the smoke, panicked and broke the fire alarm glass," Kyung said sniggering.

"What the ! How high is Zico anyway? And where is he?" Mino asked, angry but relieved.

"Are you sure it's nothing to worry about?" Taehyun was still worried.

"It's fine. Someone got a bucket of water and put out the fire but the alarm bell had already gone off," Kyung exclaimed resulting a relieved Mino sinking down on his feet.

*****

Taehyun knew that night, that even if their first date will be horrible, even if Mino will not be able to sweep his feet away with romance, he will not let go of him. He's going to keep him as long as he can. The little things that Mino had done for him tonight and the off-handed remarks all spoke volumes to Taehyun. He replayed the party as he tucked himself in his bed that night. He was not going to think about bad things now or the uncertain future. He’s going to take a page out of Mino’s book and live in the moment as the older boy seemed to do every day.

*****

The next morning, Mino woke up with a smile on his face. Yesterday was one of the best nights he had ever experienced in a very long time. He took his time in bed lying awake, not wanting to get up as he replayed last night in his head, then his silly grin suddenly turned into a look of pure horror. He remembered he had promised Taehyun a date that will blow his mind. Now he was suddenly overwhelmed by pressure. He knew Taehyun is well-off and used to finer things in life. He also mentioned he had dated other people before. He dreaded the idea that their first date would be compared to past first dates. 

“Aish! Why did I have to set myself up for failure?” he thought wretchedly as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “What do I do now? I need first date ideas,” he mumbled to himself as he got up from his bed. He particularly rushed his morning routine but it was of no use because the people that he wanted to talk to are all still asleep. He walked around the room not knowing what to do. He has never been on a proper date before, and even if he did, this time will have to be different from all other dates because it’s Nam ing Taehyun. He wants this to be special and different. 

Since his friends were not looking like they are to wake up soon, he opened his laptop looking for first date ideas on the internet since it knows everything, he thought, as he browsed to various links. Nothing caught his attention. The ideas all seemed to be so generic, so cliché. He was already on the 36th page when he realized the problem was not really because of the internet. It had to do with the fact that he knew almost nothing about the person he was going to date. Nam Taehyun was still a mystery to him.

He remembered he saved Bobby’s number in his phone from the night before. At least he did one thing right, he told himself. He figured Bobby would know him best. He messaged him then, telling him it was Mino and he needed his help. Bobby seemed like a nice guy, he’ll help for sure, he thought happily.

It was almost noon; Bobby still had not replied to his text and his friends are still sleeping. He texted the girls but they did not reply either. He was starting to panic. He could not afford to wait very long as he learned yesterday that Taehyun was not a patient person. He had to take him out soon if he did not want the boy’s affections to stray.

Finally, Zico groggily came out of his room, ash blonde hair flying in all directions as he rubbed his eyes trying to wake himself up.

“Yah! I wondered when the hell were you planning to get up?” Mino scolded even though he knew Zico did not do anything wrong.

“Shhhh, lower your voice man, hangover,” Zico whispered clutching at his head.  Mino wanted to shout out loud but he had to be patient with the sleepy boy if he wanted his help.

“Sorry,” he whispered back, “Want some aspirins? I made coffee,” he announced instead, keeping his tone as low as he could.

"Sure" Zico replied as he made his way to the bathroom.

When he came back to the dining area, Mino had a steaming cup of coffee ready for him, as well as water, aspirin, and hangover soup. Zico's eyebrows rose at that but did not say anything as he sat down to drink. 

Mino silently watched as Zico slowly ate the food he prepared for him. He had his chin resting on the palm of his hand while the other fingers drummed on the table.

"Will you stop that?" Zico said, irritated.

"Oh sorry," Mino apologised immediately.

"What's up with you this morning?" Zico finally asked when Mino was not very forthcoming with a good reason as to why he was being so nice today. Mino was about to explain his situation when Kyung also came out from his bedroom.

"Yo, Kyung, I made coffee and hangover soup, come, join us," Mino called out but was silenced by a hiss from both Zico and Kyung.

"Why are you so perky this early morning?" Kyung asked as he sat down.

"I need your expertise on dating, my lovely brothers," Mino started.

"I knew it! " Zico said tiredly.

"Can this wait? I can't think with a headache," Kyung added.

"Sure. Sure. That's why I prepared these for you two. Just hurry up. I am dying here," Mino begged.

By evening Mino had managed to bring most of his friends to the room to help him brainstorm for his first date with Taehyun, but nobody could suggest something that Mino said "Will blow Taehyun's mind".

There was a whiteboard standing in the middle of the room, “Nam Taehyun” written in big bold blue marker with a caricature of a boy with two droopy eyebrows and 50:50 parted hair. Arrows were pointing to different directions that connected to what they had learned about the boy.

“I can’t believe I’m spending my Saturday night here instead of going out like a normal college girl,” Krystal complained.

“The things we do for you,” Sulli added with a sigh.

“Because you are such nice friends and I would pay you back in kind,” Mino smiled.

“How?” Kyung wanted to know.

“Who knows? Maybe in the future you guys will need me to lend you money,” Mino suggested.

“How? With your brain filled with thoughts of Nam Taehyun I doubt you’ll even get a degree,” Zico offered.

"Yah! Don’t be mean, you guys. Ok, Bobby tells me Taehyun likes to read books," Mino said excitedly as he read a text on his phone.

"How does that even remotely help you with the date, are you gonna take him to a book store?" Sulli asked.

"Bobby, you are not helping," Mino texted back.

"He listens to pop rock, Mika, and stuff. He likes British pop music,” Mino read the next text from Bobby.

"There are no live acts you can take him to these days," Krystal says, who knew everything about the music scene in Korea, “Except maybe Psy. You like Psy?”

"Anything else?" Mino asks Bobby.

"He adores Jean Michel Basquiat," Mino told the others.

"Who's he?" Nobody knew so one person searched the web to find out.

"I can't help you anymore," Bobby texted. "I think I've told you everything I know."

"Thanks anyway" Mino replied. "What is Taehyun doing now?" he couldn't help asking.

"Biting his nails waiting for you to set a date," Bobby replied and Mino smiled at that.
 

"Hey!" he texted Taehyun and another "Hey~" came back in an instant.

"Whatchu doin?"

"Yoga," Taehyun replied.

"That's a surprise." A new thing learned about Taehyun. Mino wondered what position he’s doing at the moment.

"I'm trying to de-stress"

"And what's stressing you out?"

"You don't have to know"

"Do you miss me?"

"Hell no"

"You just broke my heart a little, coz I think I miss you already"

"Good"

"You're mean. Go back to your yoga"

"I will"

*****

"I'm downstairs, don't bring your bike keys coz I intend to drive you around today" 

Taehyun received the text from Mino. He had been getting ready for the past hour after Mino suddenly decided they will have their date tonight, on a Sunday night, without any prior consultation. He was tempted to decline at first but he could not wait to see the older boy again and accepted the date against his better judgment.

That was how Taehyun found himself standing in front of a smiling Mino 2 minutes after said text message.

"I didn't know you have a car?" Taehyun asked.

"I don't. Borrowed it from a friend" Mino’s smile became bigger. "You look great!" Taehyun was dressed casually with torn distressed jeans and a black T-shirt with a plaid shirt tied around his waist. Mino could not take his eyes off him.

"You don't look so bad yourself. Am I underdressed?" Taehyun asked, biting his lower lip with a worried expression as he saw Mino wearing a maroon coloured shirt buttoned up to the neck and dark rimmed glasses. 

"No, you're perfect," Mino commented as he led the way to the car and opened the door for Taehyun.

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that," Taehyun smiled, feeling a little conscious.

"I wanted to, just accept it for today okay?" Mino said as he seated in the driver seat and started the engine.

"So, where are you taking me?" Taehyun asked anticipating.

"Dinner and movie."

"Is that your idea of blowing my mind?" Taehyun laughed. He wasn't disappointed though. He already knew he'll enjoy doing anything as long as it was with Mino.

"Bobby tells me you were a straight A student in High School, which I already suspected. So tell me, have you ever broke a school rule?" Mino enquired instead.

"Apart from smoking while wearing my uniform, I think, no" Taehyun replied honestly.

"You still smoke?" 

"Yeah."

"How come I've never....were you being considerate of me?" Mino asked, stealing a glance.

"Kinda. It's a filthy habit, I know. You don't?"

"No, apart from the occasional joint. Maybe you should stop, not that I'm telling you to but you said it yourself it's a filthy habit"

"I know, maybe I will, someday."

"When you're no longer stressed?" Mino joked.

"Exactly."

"Well, I will try and de-stress you tonight"

"Wait, why are we going towards our campus?" Taehyun asked looking out the window.

"Because our date is here," Mino said simply.

"But...."

"I figured you had many fancy dates before and  I know I can't level to that since I'm only a poor college student, so I'm just gonna go with an adventurous date and make you break a few rules with me," Mino said smirking a little. 

"How? I hope you don't intend on getting me expelled?" Taehyun was worried.

"Maybe…." Mino said mysteriously.

"What? No! Let me out of here right now!" Taehyun said starting to panic a little.

"Aww come on. Live a little. I promise you I'll take all the blame," Mino tried to convince the younger boy.

"I'm really..." Taehyun protested.

"Trust me, okay?" Mino insisted.

"Why am I getting convinced so easily?" Taehyun asked himself slumping back down on his seat and Mino merely laughed.

"Where are you taking me? All the lights are out." Taehyun whispered as Mino led him towards an empty building.

"Come on," Mino whispered gesturing for Taehyun to follow as he opened a door with a lock. They entered the room and Mino switched the lights on to reveal the kitchen of the college cafeteria. 

"What the !" Taehyun exclaimed.

"Okay, we can't turn the lights on for too long, take a seat" Mino suggested as he went to the storage room in the corner to drag out a huge cardboard box, took out a lamp, lighted it, then finally switched off the main source of light. The golden light illuminated only a little part of the huge kitchen. Taehyun settled himself on a tall stool and rested his elbows on the table watching Mino's movements.

"This seems to be a really bad idea," Taehyun commented but he made no move to leave.

"Isn't it fun though? Breaking the rules? I'm sure the college won't mind us making use of their resources just for a while, it's not like we're stealing or anything," Mino babbled on smiling as he took out various ingredients from the box. 

"You're cooking for me?" Taehyun asked as he saw the stuff Mino had taken out.

"Yes, and you're going to help me," Mino stated.

"I don't know how to cook," Taehyun lied.

"You've been staying alone for a while, I'm sure you know something. You'll only be my assistant, don't worry. Now come and put your pretty fingers to good use and cut the vegetables," Mino ordered as Taehyun lazily got up from his seat.

"Fine, tell me which ones?" he asked. Mino gave him a chopping board and a knife with the washed vegetables. 

"Just cut them up however you want, the smaller the better," he suggested.

"What are we making?" 

"You'll know," Mino said without giving the answer as he washes the rice to cook.

"You know how to cook, like, properly?” Taehyun wanted to know.

"Of course. When you love food as much as I do, one must learn. But since we don't have much time tonight, we are going to make something simple," he said as he cut up some meat to fry on the grill.

A rustle of leaves outside the window startled them and they quickly ducked down under the tables without hesitation.

"The lamp," Taehyun whispered urgently. Mino raised his hand to bring the lamp to the floor and switched it off. After they heard no more noise Mino crept towards the window to see what was it and a cat mewed. They both burst out laughing.

"This is the stupidest thing I have ever done," Taehyun commented as he stood up from under the table. 

"Stupid and fun" Mino insisted and Taehyun had to agree.

They continued working in comfortable silence.

"It won't take any longer. Why don't you take out the bottle of wine from the refrigerator, there will be two glasses in the box," Mino suggested as Taehyun was done with the vegetables.

"Oooh, fancy are we?" Taehyun joked.

"Of course. Only the best for our Taehyun-ie," Mino kid back lightly. "It's Merlot and that's the only thing I spent money on so you better like it," he continued with a serious note as Taehyun opened the fridge.

"I'm beyond flattered," Taehyun laughed, pouring the wine into the two glasses.

"Wine with bibimbap?” Taehyun enquired quirking one eyebrow. They suddenly noticed a light shining through the window so they ducked under the table again, this time Mino did not forget the lamp.

"How did you even get the key to this place?" Taehyun whispered under the table. His heart was pounding in his chest.

"I guess it's one of the perks of knowing so many people" Mino whispered back with a goofy grin.

"We could've just had it in your room," Taehyun suggested, trying to calm himself.

"Our kitchen is shared by the whole floor, and it won't be as fun" Mino explained.

"I guess you're right. This is the most thrilling experience I've had," Taehyun conceded. He could not stop smiling.

Mino lifted his head out to check if the light was gone. When it was off, he breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly got up to examine on the vegetables.

"! It got a little burnt," he wailed.

"What? You burnt my hard work?" Taehyun asked coming up behind him giggling, resting his chin on Mino's shoulder looking at the work. He could feel Mino stiffen at the contact and he loved it.

"I'm sorry," Mino pouted a little.

"We can salvage some of it. So, everything else is done?" he enquired looking around and Mino touched the place where Taehyun had rested his chin, smiling to himself.

"Yep, go take a seat, I'll properly serve you," he said gesturing towards the chair and he went to pull out two large bowls and scooped out the rice, placed the vegetables with the fried eggs on top, and sliced up the kimchi and cucumbers. "Enjoy!" he smiled and winked.

"It looks good," Taehyun commented as he saw the food, it really did.

They started on their food but were startled again by a sound coming from outside.

"Maybe we should just eat under the table," Taehyun suggested. They took their bowls with the glasses of wine and crouched under the table, sitting on their bums. The table was tall enough it served as a low hanging roof of sorts, the lamp glowed golden between their feet as they held their bowls in their hands.

"If I'm getting indigestion I'm gonna blame you," Taehyun half-heartedly scolded his date with a smile he hid behind his hand.

"Don't worry, I know how to prick the finger," Mino assured him as he took a spoonful, smiling at him through long lashes.

The golden light of the lamp illuminated only their faces as they sat down facing each other and Taehyun believed this was more romantic than a candlelit dinner in a restaurant. And also exciting as he was reminiscent of being a kid hiding under the table with the cookie jar he was not supposed to touch. This time there was another kid who pushed him to steal the cookie jar, and he liked the company. This small area was their secret, they were the only ones who knew about it. Taehyun felt he could connect to Mino better with this strange dinner date. 

"That was really good, and I'm surprised the wine went with the food," Taehyun said as they got up.

"You better not share this with anyone," Mino warned without any real threat.

After cleaning up, Mino took the unfinished wine bottle and Taehyun held on to the glasses as they made their way outside.

"So where to next? My bad influence," Taehyun asked, anticipating.

"Don't worry, I won't make you break any more rules," Mino re-assured.

"Oh, I'm disappointed," Taehyun mocked.

"Don't worry; we'll have lots of time to break a few more rules. Wanna go put gum under the tables of the classroom desks?" Mino joked, his eyes dancing with mischief.

“Is that all you can come up with? I’m starting to believe you’re not as badass as you look,” Taehyun asked, laughing at Mino’s childishness.

“What? No way! What do I have to do to convince you? I’m the most badass of them all. Should I go crack some skulls?” Mino exclaimed, huffing and puffing with an animated expression. Taehyun welcomed the bubble of laughter threatening its way out of his stomach and he bent over, holding his stomach with a fit of the giggles rendering him unable to walk. “I’ll have to you know. I even stole candy from someone, though I think she was 5 years old and I was 4, she looked 10,” Mino continued. Taehyun started begging him to stop. “I was even grounded for a week because my friend told my dad I peed in the pool,” Mino would not stop with the serious facial expression he had put on. He took the wine glasses from Taehyun so that he would not break them and continued regaling his various escapades growing up. They finally reached Mino’s dorm building and Taehyun was a little surprised again.

“Why are we here?” he asked Mino. “We are going to watch the movie in your room?”

“Yes, all my friends are waiting for us with the scariest movie ever,” Mino said with a straight face but couldn’t help laughing out loud at Taehyun’s expression of pure dread. “I’m kidding, just wait and see,” Mino said as he led Taehyun up the steps away from the floor where Mino’s room was. The door to the roof was locked with a huge iron chain. Mino took out yet another key to unlock it. He opened the door and made Taehyun go first.

“Wow!” Taehyun couldn’t help but exclaim as he stepped onto the terrace. The roof was fully decorated with fairy lights. There was a mattress in the corner covered with cozy-looking blankets and pillows for comfort, and in front of it was a white screen. Taehyun could see a projector propped up in front. “This is… how much thought have you put into this?” he asked Mino who had finished locking the door again from outside.

“You have no idea,” Mino replied honestly.

“Why did you lock it again?” Taehyun asked nervously.

“So we won’t get disturbed. What do you think? That I’m gonna eat you up?” Mino said, invading Taehyun’s personal space. Taehyun took a step back, suddenly feeling shy. No one had ever done something like this for him before. It was a little overwhelming, but Mino was not quite finished yet.

“So I have three movie selections for you. One, "Basquiat"; two, "Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child", and Three, a horror movie. I’m sure you’ve already watched the Basquiat movies, so I thought maybe I’ll watch it so that I’d get to know why you like him, but then again I thought it would be better to get live commentary from you if we watched it together, so, take your pick,” Mino said, going through his laptop folders.

“I’m sure you’ll find it boring, they aren’t really your typical movies,” Taehyun said, chewing on his lower lip nervously.

“But that’s why I wanted to watch it with you, to learn new things, to get a sense of who you are, won’t you help me?” Mino pleaded looking at Taehyun in the eyes.

“You are amazing!” Taehyun exclaimed. He couldn’t help himself. He could tell from Mino’s expression that he was dead serious, and Taehyun had never felt so special before. This boy in front of him was willing to watch something he had no interest in just so that he could get to know Taehyun better.

“I would disagree but thank you,” Mino said with a broad smile, his eyes almost disappearing. “So, which one would it be?”

“The second one,” Taehyun chose with conviction. Mino asked him to sit down on the mattress while he set up the movie.

“I might ask a lot of questions so be prepared,” Mino said as he settled himself next to Taehyun.

The weather was starting to get a little chilly so they snuggled under the blankets and Mino listened attentively to Taehyun’s every word like they are the most interesting thing in the world, though Taehyun secretly thought Mino had been staring at his lips more than the movie. 

“Hey, I’m going to give you a quiz later on so focus,” Taehyun finally said as the blush would not leave his cheeks.

“I am,” Mino defended.

“Then what just happened?” Taehyun asked quirking up one eyebrow.

“You said Thurston Moore was chosen by Rolling Stones as one of the '100 greatest guitarists of all time',” Mino answered correctly.

“What about the scene just now?” Taehyun asked, gesturing towards the screen.

“I..I don’t know,” Mino admitted with an embarrassed smile. “What?” he exclaimed when Taehyun let out an exasperated sigh. “I can’t help it when your face is nicer to look at than the screen. I can’t do two things at once.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere mister,” Taehyun couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay, I’ll focus on the screen, promise,” Mino said as he turned away from Taehyun and they finally finished the movie with Taehyun not escaping his tomato phase.

“So how was it?” Mino had been dying to ask the whole ride back to Taehyun’s place, especially since the younger boy had been so quiet.

“That was one of the most interesting and best nights of my life,” Taehyun replied without looking at Mino.

“Good enough to consider calling me your boyfriend from now on?” Mino decided to try his luck.

“Well...” Taehyun hesitated dor dramatic purpose. Mino could not see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“Oh come on, what do I have to do to get you to say yes?” Mino started to make a serious pout when Taehyun finally turned towards him.

“Boyfriend,” Taehyun said softly.

“Wh... what?”

“I’m checking to see how it feels to say it. My boyfriend, Mino. I like it,” Taehyun smiled.

“So is that a yes?” Mino asked, a little breathless.

“Yes, boyfriend,” Taehyun repeated.

“YES!” Mino exclaimed, slamming his hands on the steering wheel making Taehyun laugh. He wondered if he should make Mino pull over so he could kiss him, but he bit his lip instead. He realised he had been smiling and laughing the whole night that his cheeks were starting to hurt because of massive usage.

“Just to see whether you could surpass yourself with the next date,” he couldn’t help adding. Mino looked a little worried then. “I’m just kidding. We’re gonna see each other almost every day now, I bet we won’t need to have separate proper dates,” Taehyun regressed.

“You’re perfect, have I told you that before? You’re ing perfect,” Mino exclaimed with happiness.

“Yes, you have, but I don’t mind hearing it again,” Taehyun joked.  

They finally reached Taehyun’s building. Taehyun opened the door to get out but turned his head back towards Mino.

“Do you wanna..."

"Aren’t you gonna...” Taehyun and Mino spoke at the same time causing them to laugh nervously.

“You go first,” Taehyun suggested.

“Aren’t you gonna kiss me goodnight?” Mino asked expectantly. Taehyun quickly turned fully around and wrapped one arm around Mino’s neck to meet his lips with an urgent kiss which Mino reciprocated in kind. 
 

*****

A laughter