“What's with all the manhwa?” Seungri asked as he entered, Daesung already sitting at the table, a huge stack of manhwa books in front of him. “Heh.” Daesung blushed, “It was so painfully awkward last time that I thought it would maybe be a good idea to bring something to do this time.”. He grinned embarrassedly. He was adorable when he was embarrassed. He seemed to be a little bit less shy this time, speaking and everything. It was still awkward though, that he couldn't deny.

“Doraemon?” Seungri read, surprised. Not the most grown up choice. “Yeah. Don't worry, I brought enough for the both of us. Don't you like him?” Daesung's expression turned worried. “Hah yeah I can see that. Oh, eh, sure. It's just.. doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of these meetings if we read manhwa the entire time. We won't really get to know each other that way.” he pointed out, not sure if he was making matters worse.

“But.. you don't really want to be here anyway, so it doesn't really matter, does it?” Daesung explained quietly in a kind voice, not holding it against him. “And you do?” he enquired with curiosity, he had been positive last time had been just as excruciating for Daesung as it was for him. “Mmh.. well.. I don't know... this is maybe not the best way to meet guys, especially since I'm only ever paired with high level guys that get very visibly disappointed with my appearance.. but it's not like I'm doing any better picking up guys on my own, and I kind of.. heh... I'd kind of like to get a boyfriend.. so I go to these things.. just in case, you know...” Daesung's face was redder than a ripe apple, so red it was almost purple. He was staring at the floor like he was trying to set it on fire with the sheer intensity of his stare. It was kind of cute. Really, really cute actually.

“I don't think you're ugly.” Seungri stated matter-of-factly. What was wrong with him? Why did he keep blurting that out at the most inconvenient of times. It was just so preposterous that even Daesung himself was talking like it was a universally known fact that he was ugly. He had seen ugly, and this wasn't it.

“You don't?” Daesung asked, stunned. His voice sweeter than candy, so sincere and genuinely surprised. He really did have a beautiful voice, he had noticed it only today since this was the first time he was hearing him say more than two words at a time. “No.” he replied simply, not knowing how to answer. The moment he shook his head, Daesung's eyes disappeared into the most endearing of eyesmiles. It was so bright that it affected the whole room, giving it a light and cozy feeling.

For brief moment at least. A brief moment and then the awkward monster returned, infecting them once again, blocking their brains from finding even the most trivial things to say.

“What's the weirdest marriage meeting you've been to?” Seungri asked, having suddenly thought of the question as he was sifting through his memories, convincing himself that this was by far the most awkward encounter he had had, so far at least. He couldn't but hope that he wouldn't have to endure a more awkward meeting than this, this one remaining in the first place for all eternity. Daesung snorted, making him chuckle.

“I just.. based on what you said, I imagine you've been to quite a few.. there has to be a good story hiding amongst them?” he pushed, trying to get Daesung to loosen up and talk more, and stop eyeing his Doraemon books.

“There was one..” he put up a peculiar frown that turned into a mysterious half-smile. “Do tell!” Seungri exclaimed a little too excitedly so he could see that he was actually interested to hear what he had to say. It had the desired effect, Daesung shifted in his chair, getting ready for story time.

“There was this stylish workaholic..” he began, Seungri nodding profusely. “He was seriously THE most beautiful human being I've ever seen!” he said with stars in his eyes, his mind clearly doing a bit of time traveling. It stung a little. With him right before his eyes, he dared call someone else more beautiful? What was wrong with how he looked? Was he not beautiful enough for him? What kind of crazy beauty standards did that guy have?! Maybe that was the real reason why he was still single. And that workaholic super human was probably just some random guy, having been turned into a god only in Daesung's mind after idolizing him for too long. However, if Seungri and him were to go head to head in real life, or face to face more like it, he had no doubt that he would win. Yeah, it was simply a case of Daesung's imagination photoshopping the picture he had in his mind, it had no roots in reality.

“And the biggest dork too, he had the dorkiest laugh, you wouldn't believe it even if you heard it.” Daesung giggled. So he was still crushing on him, Seungri realized. He didn't know why, but it rubbed him the wrong way. What had that guy done that Seungri hadn't already done? He too was stylish and beautiful, yet dorky at times. Why wasn't Daesung giggling like that over him? Although it was probably not the best idea to have Daesung fall for him, it would only break his heart. Yet Seungri could feel the competitiveness stirring inside him, wanting to beat that er at his own game, making Daesung giggle even harder over him, erasing his competitor completely from his brain. It was silly really, since that guy would never know, but Seungri couldn't help himself.

As Daesung continued his story, Seungri put up a sweet smile, watching him attentively, making sure to put a little puppyness into his stare. There was no way he was going to be able to resist that, just let him try. “Okay, so after being all charming and pretty much sweeping me off my feet in one fell swoop, he tells me that he's actually straight, that he was just pretending to be gay because his mother disliked his girlfriend, but wanted nothing more than grandchildren. Telling me that if he were gay though, that I would totally be his type.” he chuckled and shook his head, his cheeks getting a bit rosier than normal. Then the smile suddenly fell from his lips, hitting the floor and breaking into a million little pieces. “Now that I think about it, he was probably gay, but just came up with that weird story to spare my feelings.” he pouted, his world turning dark.

Seungri got instantly annoyed. He hated how little Daesung thought of himself. He hated that the whole of society had worked together to break him down, bit by bit, like a river of hate, tearing through a beautiful piece of scenery, leaving nothing behind but mud. “Could you knock that off? It's really not becoming of the prince of Korea to act like that.” Seungri complained, throwing caution to the wind. “Huh? The prince of Korea? Act like what?” Daesung had no idea what he was going on about, which made him even more annoyed. The annoyance trumped the awkwardness, making him bolder.

“Oh come on, you're all like boohoo, I don't look like a model, while you sit there on your thrown, looking as majestic as is your status.” he threw at him, tired of him wallowing in self pity, it didn't do any good and was pointless since he was absolutely gorgeous. “Say what?” Daesung's nose crinkled up as he tried to figure out what on Earth he was talking about. Aishh, even when he was being stupid, he was stupidly cute. “I'm saying you're beautiful, that's what I'm saying! Now get it through your thick skull and stop feeling sorry for yourself!” he all but shouted, he had gotten himself all worked up over this. Daesung's eyes sparkled, he was looking at him as if he was made out of diamonds and Seungri could see their imaginary reflection in his eyes. Ah, that had not been his goal. He shifted in his seat, growing more and more uneasy.

“So, my story!” he exclaimed, changing the subject. He couldn't deny that he felt a tiny bit satisfied though, he was gaining on that jerk with whom Daesung was so smitten. He shook the thought out of his mind, reminding himself that it wouldn't be a good idea to win that race. “Okay, so I wait for like almost a half an hour, about to leave, when a dashing guy with sunglasses enters like he owns the place, sitting down without so little as an 'I'm sorry I'm late'. He was that cool. And even though I was pissed, I couldn't help but be swayed by his handsome chiseled face and his chic demeanor. And he had me seriously wondering which fairytale he jumped out of and how I got so lucky to be his new co-star, princess if you will, ..” he explained dramatically. He was good at storytelling, of that he was confident. Daesung snorted at the mention of a princess. Seungri smirked, proud that it had had the desired effect. He was clay in his hands, clay.

“..except then he reaches for his glass of water, and somehow, still to this day I don't know how, manages to loose his grip on it half way, juggling it for a moment before it lands right in his crotch, spilling water all over his pants, making it look like he wet himself. At first I was worried it had hit his.. you know... his gold.. “ Seungri winked, “..but he didn't seem to be in any pain.. he was just mortified with embarrassment, looking at the mess he had made, his cool vanishing in a split second. And then he was out the door. And I never heard from him again.”. Seungri shook his head, not being able to contain his laughter.

“First of all... his GOLD?!?” Daesung burst into a fit of laugher. “What?” he mumbled in a hurt tone. “If you're going to go with the precious metal metaphor, it's normally called jewels, as in 'the family jewels'..” he said with difficulty, his eyes sprouting tears from the effort of containing his laughter. “Gold, diamonds, jewels, I don't see the difference.” Seungri commented, nursing the fresh bruise on his ego. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make fun of you, I just thought it was a cute misunderstanding.” Daesung apologized, not looking like he regretted it at all, reaching for his hand over the table, squeezing it gently. Seungri's heart squirmed, it was probably offended too. As it should be.

Daesung's eyes pleaded for his forgiveness. He wanted to hold on to the grudge for a little while longer, but it was impossible. It was clear that Daesung hadn't meant any harm, and his expression of remorse made him feel guilty for acting like he didn't know that.

“Let's go somewhere fun next time.” Seungri suggested, since it was getting late. “Next time?” Daesung asked, anticipation in his eyes. “Yeah.” he confirmed coolly. “Okay.” Daesung almost whispered, trying to hide the smile that was dying to burst out.

“See, I made a deal with my mom, that we'd complete 6 meetings before making any decisions.” Seungri elaborated, instantly regretting it as he saw Daesung's deflated expression. “Oh.. yeah.. of course.” he nodded lifelessly.