Warning: A tad bit of censored swearing

Jongdae was in his happy place.

Wu Yifan had been his favourite modern artist since he was fourteen. It started out with Jongdae wanting to be "cool" and "hip". He had scoffed at the more mainstream trends, dubbing himself too mature to enjoy pop music, bagging pants, and snapbacks. He distinctly remembered trying way too hard to impress his peers at the field trip to the art gallery-which just so happened to be this same one he was currently at. Jongdae had pretended to be very interested in this one blue and purple spiral-ly portrait of the artist as a frusturated artist. It was ironic because Wu Yifan had more than once publically expressed that he always had his creative outlet plugged in, no matter what the circumstances were.

Feigning interest in that picture led to feigning interest in the one adjacent to the first, and somewhere along the line, Jongdae realized he wasn't even pretending anymore. , he liked art. He really, really liked art. He went on to appreciate the works of Warhol, Monet, and other, well, less-alive artists, pushing Wu Yifan further from the top of his all-time list. But he would always top the modern artist list, no matter what.

Jongdae remembered that field trip that last time he really cared what others thought. He even started wearing snapbacks, doing his own thing in the corner with Baekhyun and Chanyeol shaking their heads at him. Still, he wouldn't mind if somebody noticed him.

Darkness blanketed the sky and Jongdae left the art gallery, content with today's experiences. He shuffled his earbuds out of his pocket and was about to put them in his ears when all of a sudden, he came face to face with the same boy from earlier that day. Owl Boy, with his wide eyes gleaming navy and his nostrils flaring glared at Jongdae with the anger of a thousand deities apparent.

"You."

Was all he said.

Jongdae stiffened. Wasn't it such a perfect day to look like a walking highlighter at nine o'clock in the night time? Owl Boy was clearly pissed at him for something. Great. The first time Jongdae got the courage to talk to a stranger and he'd messed things up.

"...Yes?..." he responded, fear seeping through his voice like syrup through a tree. But probably not as sticky.

"'You can transfer to the skytrain that comes in two stations from now'," Owl Boy mimicked Jongdae's suggestion from a few hours ago. "Well, I did. And look where that got me!"

He held up his wrist and gestured to it. Jongdae squinted to see what he was pointing to. Was that a-

"This little guy sank slithered onto me and hasn't slithered off since I entered the store," The scowl never left Owl Boy's face. "You stupid idiot directed me to the ing pet store, where innocent ol' me was distracted by the shiny clownfish in the window."

"I'm-I'm so sorry," was all Jongdae could say. And 'stupid idiot' is an oxymoron.

"You better be ing sorry," Owl Boy sneered, "The pet store owner made me ing adopt him on the spot. What kind of pet store does that?"

"...A bad one?" Jongdae nervously answered, even thought he knew it was most likely a rhetorical question.

"Correct. But all that could have been avoided if aquarium didn't give me wrong directions to the aquarium, where I could have had a nice time with snakes that weren't let out of their terrariums."

"I'm sorry, I really am," Jongdae was sorry, he really was. "Is there any way I can, um, make it up to you?"

Owl Boy rolled his eyes. "Nothing comes to mind at the moment, but I'm sure either way you'll find a way to screw it up."

Situations like this usually didn't happen to Jongdae but he knew that how he was supposed to act. He was supposed to muster an "Okay, if you're sure" and then Owl Boy would bid him goodbye angrily and then he would say it back but less angrily, because Jongdae was such a polite young man. But at that moment, Jongdae decided to give interaction with strangers (did this guy even count anymore?) another go. Even though that didn't go so well the first time.

"What if I paid you back with a trip to the aquarium? The actual one, of course."

Owl Boy raised an eyebrow. "That would probably cancel out my initial impression of you and I would gain so much respect for you."

Jongdae found himself smiling. "Then what are we waiting for?"

He grabbed Owl Boy by his snake-covered arm and started running towards the skytrain station.

Halfway up the stairs of the station, Jongdae suddenly remembered that the aquarium was closed.

"I should never have trusted you," Owl Boy snarked, but stopped when he saw how regretful Jongdae looked. "I mean- you never promised to take me at this hour," he said hastily and awkwardly patted Jongdae's shoulder as the two arrived on the platform.

"I'm sorry. Again," was all Jongdae could say after that. Owl Boy shrugged. "We can always go some other time, you know."

"I know, I know," Jongdae rested the side of his head in his palm, his forearms on a metal bar pertruding from a pavillion. This reminded him of the time three summers ago when Chanyeol had the brilliant idea to go streaking through the neighbourhood park at midnight. "We're still teenagers, we can still use that excuse to disregard our behavior," he had excitedly argued.

Unfortunately, the odds- and clouds- had been against them that day. It hadn't rained for several weeks, and that 'several weeks' would stop at that night (and resume the next, as luck would have it). Jongdae caught a cold, Baekhyun started crying for some reason, and Chanyeol had the time of his life anyway.

The rain, like the closing time of the aquarium, had not been Jongdae's fault, but he could have been more careful either way, both times. Jongdae turned towards Owl Boy, "I still owe you and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we go sometime."

Owl Boy smiled. It was a pleasant smile, not a smirk or a sarcastic grimace. "Put your number in my phone," he suggested, handing Jongdae a thick rectangle. "My name's Kyungsoo, by the way."

"I'm Jongdae."

The two men exchanged numbers, with Jongdae being unsure if he should add an emoticon next to his name or not. If so, which one? He'd always liked the eggplant one but wasn't that too suggestive? What about the way he spelled his name? Should he be quirky and go with 'jHoNNgDaaay' or write out his entire name, 'Kim Jongdae', without any excessive ornaments? It was the first time in a long while he'd made a real friend and he didn't want to screw things up more than he already had.

The skytrain arrived then, and Jongdae and Kyungsoo got on, now tranquil and at ease. "It's funny, I've lived here practically my whole life, but I've never been to the aquarium," Kyungsoo remarked.

"I'd imagine so," Jongdae mused.

"I've never been to the zoo, either."

Jongdae gasped. "You've really never been to the zoo?"

"Nope. I haven't even been to the petting zoo. Or the amusement park. Or skydiving."

"Well, I'm not sure if we even have a skydiving site here," Jongdae responded.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"..."

"So I guess you're just going home too?" Kyungsoo questioned.

"That was the initial plan, yes." But Jongdae suddenly had an epiphany.

"Do you want to- not go home yet?"

"...What are you suggesting?" Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow.

"Something legal and safe, don't worry," Jongdae reassured his new friend.

"..."

"So what do you say?"

"Sure, why not."

Thanks to anyone who subscribed/commented/voted~