Darkness. That was basically all I could see. A big, massive nothingness that surrounded me. And then, all of a sudden, I could see. The silhouette of a man in the distance. I went closer, seeing that the man was standing with his back towards me. The broad shoulders, the well-shaped hips and legs: there was no doubt who this was. Kai. I ran forward and grabbed his shoulder, tugged it. He turned around and then I was in his embrace with his hands and lips everywhere. I felt safe.

I opened my eyes and looked up into the ceiling. A dream. Of course.

       That man had messed me up completely; day and night I was longing for him, yearning for being in his arms, to press my lips against his again. And I had no idea why, it wasn’t like we knew each other or anything. And maybe it’d been a one time thing. No that couldn’t have been it. He wouldn’t have given me his number if it was.

       I stood up and waited for the dizzy feeling to disappear, and then continued out into the lounge.

       3 missed voice messages                  

       I pressed the button on the voicemail and listened while I made breakfast. Something from a phone seller, one message from my parents who announced that they were going to Hawaii for holiday. For the 5^th year in a row. I thought when the signal sounded, announcing the last message being played. This time it was from my co-worker at the coffee shop.

       “So, um yeah. Soo, there was this guy who came to the shop and asked for you just a while ago. Dunno if you know him but I suppose you do, he said you met at a restaurant and asked if you could actually call him back soon. Something about the thing you’d agreed on. Anyways, I won’t ask but please tell me you haven’t gotten yourself in trouble. He looked a little dangerous. Call me back and tell me you’re okay at least.”

       I scoffed at the obvious worry in his voice. Trouble you say?

       But at the same time, I was thrilled. I was so excited about the fact that Kai had actually, all by himself, tried to contact me first. I had to call him.

       My fingers were shaking violently as I pressed the buttons after the scribbles on the little note I had gotten from Kai two nights ago. I think I’d googled the number over a thousand times to make sure it was his number, and every time google was right. In 999 of 1000 cases, Kai’s name had popped up on the screen (one time my internet connection was broken so the “You are not connected to the internet”-message was what was shown instead). But just to make sure I just had to check again. I pressed ‘call’.

       I heard a few signals and then some scraping before I someone’s voice appeared on the other end.

       “Hello?” the voice said and I was immediately drawn back because the voice didn’t belong to Kai. I probably would’ve recognized his voice anywhere, anytime. 

       “Hello, I’m Do Kyungsoo. I was looking for Kai but maybe I got the wrong number.” I said with hesitation.

       “Ah, Kai. I’ll get him for you.” I let go of my breath that I hadn’t noticed I had been holding. A sudden dizziness swelled over me and I had to sit down so that I wouldn’t collapse on the floor. Yes, I was nervous, I admitted that.

       ‘Yeobo, it’s that guy.’ I heard from the other end. Yeobo? What the… My trail of thoughts didn’t get further than that before I heard Kai’s voice.

       “Don’t call me that, you know what happens when you do it.” he said somewhere in the distance before turning his attention to me. “Sorry ‘bout that, my lil brother likes to scare people I happen to be interested in.”

       I laughed nervously and tried to wave it away.

       “It’s okay. I heard you went to see me at the shop.”

       The silence softly settled, stuffing every corner of the conversation.

       “Yeah…” Kai broke it. “You called.”

       “I did.” I said and the awkwardness of the moment took over. But you know, there was some kind of beauty in being awkward too. “How did you know I work there?”

       “To be completely honest, I recognized you from my favourite coffee shop.” Kai chuckled.

       “You knew about me?” I couldn’t believe it.

       “Yeah, I did.”

       My whole body turned into butterflies.

       “So what do you say, what are you doing tonight?”

       So straight-forward. I made an inward giggle. After all, maybe I preferred this type of dating.

       “Oh, I’ve got plans.” I said with a hint of sarcasm in my voice and he immediately caught on.

       “Great! Banpo bridge, Dongjak side at 5.” Kai said and I could almost hear him wink at me. I could feel the warmth spread and I smiled for myself.

       “Call. I’ll see you there.” I said and after that we ended the call.

At 4.45 I was standing by the Banpo bridge, at a small square built of mainly concrete. Maybe I’d come a little early, but I was so excited to meet Kai I hadn’t had any idea of what to do until 5. So I went to the said meeting place to wait for him. The square started to fill with people and suddenly there was a dash of colour across the sky and the whole air was lit up by rainbows. The rainbow fountain of Banpo bridge had been . As the lights and colours filled the air, I felt something tug my shirt. I turned around to check what it was. It was Kai, standing there, trying to get my attention.

       “Am I late?” he asked as his eyes met mine; I could see the reflection of glittering colours in them.

       “No, of course not.” I said softly, as if in a trance, because I felt like I was drowning in those deep pupils. At last I managed to break free from the spell I had been caught by and shook my head to regain control.

       “Isn’t it pretty?” Kai said and nodded towards the fountain.

       “Yeah, it’s pretty. It’s beautiful.” I said and turned to look at it, directing my glance into the water that streamed out of the long bridge that stretched out over river Han.

       So are you. I thought and shivered when the words appeared in my mind.

       “Let’s go somewhere.” he suddenly said and started dragging me away from the fountain and the crowd that stood by to watch it.

       “To where?” I asked, confused over the fact that he was so impulsive, so free-thinking. But I liked it. Maybe to a restaurant. A cinema. Something first-date-ish.

       “Fried chicken.” he simply said and I sighed. Fried chicken wasn’t really the thing I had anticipated for my first date where I actually was interested in the person I was going with. But it was Kai. It was okay. He dragged me through a door to a tiny restaurant that had only about four tables, whereas one of them was empty.

       “Get that spot!” he yelled and I threw myself over the table as if my life had depended on it.

       “You could’ve just sat down…” Kai said with a joking pout, just to smirk a second later. I slided down onto a seat and awkwardly put my hands on my knees.

       “Kai! Here again? The usual?” a man that I guessed was the owner said to Kai and he nodded and sat down in front of me.

       “This is the best place I know. It’s awesome.”

       Awesome.

       “Um, sure.” I said and hoped that the chicken would be good after all.

       And it was. When I said so to Kai, he smiled so proudly I thought his eyes would shoot real fireworks by themselves.

       “I told ya! It’s awesome!” he said and rested his head on his fists and looked at me while I ate. When we left that restaurant, both of us were so high on the glances of affection we had sent each other while eating and just existing together.

We found a small drinking tent along a street and went in to get soju, because… reasons.

       “I know this is not really how you’re supposed to do the first date.” he said as he lifted the plastic tent wall.

       “It’s not.” I said and stepped inside. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to do what you’re ‘supposed to do’.

       Kai laughed at my decisiveness and put his hand on my forehead. The touch burned as though he’d pressed a hot iron against it.

       “What happened to the serious Kyungsoo I met a few days ago?” he said.

       “You scared him so he ran away.” I said and started pouring soju. Kai stared at me as if I’d gone crazy.

       “Hey, go easy on the soju. I’m not dragging you home.” he said and snatched the bottle from me.

The world was spinning lightly and I was looking at the man in front of me that for was covered in pink clouds and sparkles.

       “You’re shining.” I said and pointed at him.

       “Okay, enough for you today.” he said, snatched the bottle from my grip and called for the bill.

We were both sitting in a staircase along river Han again, sobering up, absorbing the wonderful feeling of the warm summer night.

       “Kyungsoo.” Kai said and took a deep breath, with his gaze somewhere in the distance.

       “Yeah?” I said.

       “I think I like you. Like the first time I saw you in the coffee shop, I knew we had a connection, but I didn’t know it would be this deep. ” he said thoughtfully and I shivered for like the tenth time today. Either it had been because a small temperature shift in the air, or there was a possibility that his words moved something within me. Like instinct I answered him.

       “I like you too.”

       And so he turned to me, his eyes searching for mine until he found them, and lastly leaning towards me. His lips were soft and gentle, but suddenly grew more desperate, yearning for more.

       “I think I changed my mind about liking you.” I said when gasping for air.

       “Well snap, and I just confessed my feelings for you.” he said and leaned in again.

       “I think I feel more than just liking you.” I said and kissed him back.

And then we just sat like that for a long time, in each other’s arms, looking up at the stars that, for tonight, shone only for us. 

A/N:

Finally it's out! I've been working on this for a while now and I think it turned out pretty well. 

Thank you to everyone who read ands subscribed to and upvoted both stories! Your appreciation really means the world to me. When I read your comments, it makes my whole day and nothing can destroy that. So keep being awesome everyone!

~Matsu-chan~