This was supposed to be a birthday fic for Doojoon but I’m reaaaalllllyyyy late and it’s been almost a week after Dooj’s birthday OTL I feel like finishing this series really soon though because of my sporadic updates and I cannot keep up with my schedule anymore. I don’t re-read any of this anymore so things might jump a little here and there… I am writing in the spare time that I have so my apologies if this doesn’t make sense T.T

Yoseob straightened out his hands to the side and inhaled the clear air deeply. It had been a long time since he last cycled in the out like this. Although the bicycle was rented in one of the small shops in the park, Yoseob was happy nonetheless. Especially because Doojoon was here with him.

“Do you want patbingsoo?” Doojoon pointed to a small shaved ice cream shop, he knew Yoseob loved patbingsoo. The younger man nodded, his face lit up as he spotted the patbingsoo shop and Doojoon loved seeing Yoseob like this, honest and uninhibited. The older man got ready on his rented bike and shouted, “Last one to reach there has to buy!” He rode on his pedal and stole the start playfully on a still unaware Yoseob. When Yoseob realized he had been tricked, he pedaled so hard to give Doojoon a good -kicking later on.

“Give me more of the red bean please, Ahjussi…” Yoseob attacked the unknowing patbingsoo seller with his killer aegyo. When he received almost double portion of the red bean from the absolutely taken Ahjussi, Yoseob gasped in excitement and beamed adorably. Doojoon was almost sure Yoseob could even get a free refill of patbingsoo later on if he asked for one to the Ahjussi.

Shaking his head in pure amusement after seeing the amount difference between the bean in Yoseob’s cup and his own, Doojoon paid for their orders and thanked the Ahjussi (although Doojoon totally won the cycling race). They settled on a bench and enjoyed both the scenery and shaved ice.  

It was summer and the sun was warm, and Doojoon was almost on his knees thanking God for the fantastic weather. He could not imagine what would happen if the weather was horrible and he was so looking forward to this date with Yoseob. Okay fine, it was not a date per se because he did not ask Yoseob out for a date (he was quite sure that Yoseob would totally freak out), but a man could dream and assume.  

Taking Yoseob out was really hard, first because Yoseob’s work was so demanding of his presence and second, because Yoseob was so averse to opening up for relationship. Doojoon did not want just physical, he became greedy and wanted more, more, more. He even scared himself last night by thinking he wanted forever with Yoseob.

“Do you come here often?” Yoseob asked, slurping on his transparent spoon.

Doojoon looked at Yoseob, too young to be his actual age, a direct opposite to Doojoon who was always perceived to be older than his actual age. “Yes. My place is about fifteen to twenty-minute walk.”

Yoseob immediately looked at the older man with wide curious eyes, “Really??”

Doojoon nodded, chewing on the iced watermelon.

Yoseob tsk-ed as he recollected the images from Doojoon’s apartment that he visited once before, “You are that wealthy, aren’t you?”

Doojoon scoffed and waved his hand dismissively, “Nah… I’m just lucky to find a place here. It’s not as exclusive as people thought it would be, trust me.” He continued, “I like your neighbourhood actually, it feels… homier…warmer.”

Yoseob nodded, focusing on his patbingsoo like a little boy, his legs swinging lightly, forehead in a slight frown as the younger man dug for more red beans in his cup. Doojoon chuckled silently because Yoseob was beyond adorable and maybe, maybe he really, really wanted to spend the rest of his life with Yoseob.

Doojoon cleared up his suddenly dry throat and asked, “… do you want to come over?”

“Excuse me, come again?”

The older man gulped nervously, “Do you want to come over? I don’t mean that kind of coming over, just… you know, just coming over… have some coffee or tea… or some orange juice.” Doojoon quickly added when he saw Yoseob frowned.

Yoseob laughed loudly, “Oh man, you should see yourself. Of course I am okay with coming over, even for that kind of coming over. Maaann, I never thought of seeing you so nervous like this.”

Doojoon frowned, “I’m not funny.”

Yoseob continued laughing, “Of course you are.” He said, ruffling Doojoon’s soft newly-black hair which Yoseob commented was good and it makes you younger by a bit. He got up from his seat and turned back to look at Doojoon earnestly, “but I want to hold hands all the way back to your place.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Doojoon saluted the younger man and Yoseob could not stop his laughing fit.

Never once, on the way back, Doojoon released his hold on Yoseob’s hand, not even when people kept giving him strange stares and started whispering, and not even when Yoseob flushed red.

=&=

Just as Yoseob remembered, Doojoon’s apartment building was really fancy, the doorman outside the entrance door greeted Doojoon and Yoseob professionally – Yoseob was amazed because the doorman apparently remembered him – not flinching even though Yoseob knew he noticed that Doojoon was holding his hand. The elevator was lined with mirrors and with soft music was playing in the background.

When they arrived – 8^th floor – the elevator dinged open, showing off hallways that were covered with soft carpets, just like those really fancy hotels. There were only two units in the whole floor, and they turned to the right.

“Wow this is… I mean I’ve been here before, but I’m still amazed like, wow…” Yoseob looked around because damn, the hallways looked much better than his previous visit. Doojoon chuckled and entered in a few digits into the keypad on his door and the device blinked green with a creaking sound.

After that, everything happened too fast for Yoseob to take in.

All he remembered was the creaking sound from the device that signaled the door was now unlocked, and then he remembered the apartment was dark although it was only afternoon, and all the heavy curtains were drawn close, then he remembered taking the first step inside when Doojoon led him softly by the hand, and he remembered the door clicking shut behind him, then he remembered being curious and anxious at the same time for coming to Doojoon’s place.

Then suddenly there was so much light, too much light on his poor eyes, suddenly there was a loud chorus of “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” and birthday trumpets everywhere, suddenly there were lots of people that Yoseob did not recognized at all in Doojoon’s apartment, suddenly there was a surge of people coming over to Doojoon to kiss him and hug him and congratulate him on finally being thirty.

Suddenly Yoseob wanted nothing but pull his hand away from Doojoon’s grasp.

Instead Doojoon squeezed Yoseob’s hand tighter in his, refusing to let go. He raised both his hands into the air like it was a celebration, laughing and saying endless thank you’s to the people who came for the surprise party.

The stares were now directed at Yoseob, whose hand was held safely by Doojoon and the younger man wanted to just fall into the ground and disappear instantly while Doojoon was nonchalantly laughing and hugging everybody with his free hand.

“Everybody!” Doojoon half-shouted at the small crowd inside his house, “This is Yang Yoseob, my best friend since high school. Don’t get him wasted too badly, I still need him sober!”

Yoseob’s mouth gaped open as everyone laughed at Doojoon’s lame joke. He just could not believe that Doojoon just sort of outed them, sort of, kind of. Doojoon introduced him to everybody with their joined hands like a declaration. He had never been in anything more awkward than this situation and he considered killing Doojoon right then and there because Yoseob thought that living for twenty nine years was enough for Doojoon.  

“Hi…” Yoseob said meekly to everybody because he just did not know what to do anymore. It was chaos as everyone started saying hello to Yoseob with wide welcoming smiles.

=&=

“Ah… so you are the doctor.”

“Excuse me?” Yoseob turned to look at a man, probably around the same age as Doojoon and him.

“You are the doctor, aren’t you?” The man asked.

Yoseob frowned at the strange question.

The man chuckled and offered a handshake, “I’m Yong Junhyung. We talked once on the phone when Doojoon was not in the office.”

Realization dawned on Yoseob as he took the offered hand, “Ahhhh…. I know you… well not really but sort of, but yeah we did talk on the phone once. How are you? It’s great having a face to a voice.”

Junhyung smirked assuringly to the younger man, “I’m sure everyone asked you the same question I asked before.”

“Yeah,” Yoseob muttered, “everyone knows me as ‘the doctor’ so I guess I am the doctor then?” The younger man frowned again as he pointed discreetly at a few heads in the surprise party, “There was Junsu and Taecyon and Lee Joon and uh… I’m sorry I can’t remember so many names at once.”

Junhyung chuckled and patted Yoseob on the back, “It’s fine. You’ll be seeing us quite frequent I suppose since you are now in the circle.”

“So does this mean that Doojoon talked about me to everybody?” Yoseob asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Junhyung deadpanned, “You are the only topic Doojoon talked about. He told everybody about you, so we just call you ‘doctor’ as a term… Are you upset?”

“No, no. I’m okay, it’s just –“ Yoseob stopped talking as he caught a glimpse of Doojoon laughing with a shorter guy quite intimately together. The other guy had really pretty eyes and pretty smiles, when he laughed, it felt like the air around him rang with his laughter and everything sparkled.

“Ummm… Junhyung-sshi –“

“Junhyung would be fine.”

Yoseob raised his eyebrows but complied nonetheless, “Junhyung, who is that talking with Doojoon?”

Junhyung tilted his head a little and gulped on his Coke from the bottle directly, “That’s Kim Minseok, but we all call him Xiumin, that’s his Chinese name by the way. Their fathers are best friends and since Minseok does a lot of business in China, he sort of got himself a new nickname. Even all of us now call him Xiumin instead of Minseok.”

There was nothing Yoseob could do but nod and watch as Doojoon whispered into Xiumin’s ear and they both laughed again. “Minseok-sshi is really cute.” Yoseob noted, more to himself rather than to Junhyung.

“He likes those cute ones,” Junhyung motioned to the pair, “Doojoon, I mean. Maybe he did not realize this but he attracts both man and woman, actually. There was this charming quality about him that made him really attractive – and this is the same for Minseok – both man and woman like him because he is adorable and kind-hearted.”

Yoseob was silent again as he watched Doojoon and Minseok chatted and exchanged some intimate whispers and giggles. If that was not enough yet for Yoseob, a woman entered the scene. She was very pretty, maybe more than pretty, Yoseob deduced. She had long brown wavy hair, a really pretty eye smiles, even prettier eyes and nose, a set of luscious lips, and a curvaceous body to kill for. She wore a pair of high-waisted shorts and a grey sleeveless top, accentuating the right curves, showing the right amount of skin.   

Wait, Yoseob thought, he saw that face before. He saw it somewhere at the back of his mind. It was a familiar face yet it was not. Did he meet her before? Did he know her from somewhere? Did he –

And then it clicked.

She was Ailee, whose picture he saw on Doojoon’s phone. She was the Ailee. And she was absolutely ravishing, absolutely gorgeous, someone from a man’s wet dream.

“And who is that woman?” Yoseob asked again, he was not sure why Junhyung stayed with him on the corner instead of going rounds socializing with other people, but he was so thankful for Junhyung’s presence. It made him felt a little less out of place.

Junhyung hummed as he followed Yoseob’s line of vision, “Ah, that’s Ailee. I don’t know anything about her though. All I know is that she lives in America now, but I think she is coming back to Korea soon.”

“… she is pretty.”

“She is really hot,” Junhyung replied, “But not Doojoon’s cup of tea I guess. I told you he likes cute ones, Ailee is… hot, like really y. So… yeah maybe not.”

“How long have you been friends with Doojoon?” Yoseob asked curiosly.

Junhyung chuckled again, he found Yoseob really amusing, “He is my boss in the workplace but he is more like a friend, to be honest. And since we are of the same age, we talk a lot, not just about work but this and that. He’s cool. What about you then? You guys have been friends since high school, how was he then?”

Yoseob opened his mouth to answer but he just did not know how to because when he did answer, he would sound like a lovesick idiotic teenager and so he closed it again. He frowned as he looked at Junhyung who was waiting for a reply from the younger man.

“Hm, actually I don’t –“

“What are you guys talking about?” Doojoon cut in abruptly as he slipped a possessive hand around Yoseob’s shoulder. “You both look very comfortable with each other.”

“I’m just asking Yoseob about the high-school version of you. I’m sure he has embarrassing stories of you under his sleeves.” Junhyung said, noticing Doojoon’s hand around Yoseob’s shoulder. 

“Hmm… let’s see.” Doojoon narrowed his eyes playfully, “I shall have you know that I was really popular, like really. I was the captain of the soccer team, I was the teacher’s pet, all the boys wanted to be like me, all the girls wanted a boyfriend like me. And of course, Yoseob liked me, too.”

Junhyung laughed again at the reply, while Doojoon grinned happily, tightening his hold on Yoseob shoulder and Yoseob smiled awkwardly, too stunned to have an expression.

“Anyway, I need to go. I’m gonna grab a few drinks with Hyunseung.” Junhyung looked at Yoseob, “It’s great meeting you, finally the ‘doctor’ in flesh and blood. I almost believed Doojoon was delusional before meeting you.” He chuckled and hugged Doojoon, “Happy birthday again, man. Your shocked expression was really believable although you already knew of the surprise party. Good job.”

“He already knew?” Yoseob frowned.

Junhyung slowly released Doojoon from his hug and turned towards Yoseob. He nodded, “Yeah, he knew beforehand that there would be a surprise party, but he did not know details like how many people and all that.”

There was an awkward moment where Yoseob just blankly stared at Doojoon who innocently stared back. The awkwardness was so heavy, so palpable that Junhyung decided to get the hell out of the situation as soon as possible.

Once Junhyung was gone, Yoseob asked, “So you knew there was a party? Was that why you asked me to come over?”

“Are you upset?”

Yoseob sighed, defeated by Doojoon’s soft voice, “It’s just that… why would you do that?”

Doojoon bit his lip before answering, “Because I want my friends to know you, and I’m sure you won’t do it. I really like you, y’know, just think of this as having new friends.”

“Are you going to introduce me to Ailee?” Yoseob tilted his head to look at the gorgeous woman at the other side of the spacious living room.

“Can I hug you?”

“You are not answering my question.”

“You are not answering my question either. Can I hug you?” Doojoon insisted.

Yoseob let out a loud sigh and dropped his head. Doojoon immediately enveloped him in a warm embrace and rested his cheek on the top of Yoseob’s head. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. She is going off anyway. You can just stay here with me.”

Yoseob knew that everybody would have been watching them, he could feel their stares even without looking. But for this time, for this time, he could not care, would not care. He buried his head deeper on Doojoon’s chest and relaxed. He would deal with everything else later on.

From the hallway, with designer bag on her shoulders, Ailee stared at Doojoon hugging another man. It was a pity that she should go, if not it would be interesting to have a chat with that ‘another man’. She smiled and silently exited the noisy apartment.

Yes, she thought, it will be lovely to have a chat with Yang Yoseob.