“That was Do Kyungsoo’s latest hit, Bring Me Down. I think my listeners are super excited for his tour that takes off next month, I’ve heard some crazy things about the ticket presales. However, yours truly has an amazing news for my wonderful listeners. In less than 30 minutes I will be giving out VIP passes to the one and only Do Kyungsoo’s concert and you can be the lucky winner and here’s how...”

Yifan pulls up to the 24 Hour Mini-Mart that’s only two minutes away from his small condo like every night for the past year. At this point, he has a designated parking spot that all the employees know of and is always surprisingly vacant whenever he drops by. The neon lights are bright as always but today Yifan pays an extra mind to check the recent tenants in the circle of the ‘a’. The nest has been gradually growing and now has a proud mamma and her two hatchlings.

The bell rings and the man behind the register, Jongdae, greets Yifan with a familiar smile and a small nod. Yifan greets him back and makes a quick turn to the right, down the instant food isle. In the background, he can hear Jongdae shuffling around and heating food in a microwave.

Soon, Yifan is facing a whole section of instant noodles. He knows better than the next person that eating instant food on daily basis is not healthy, however, he still chooses to enjoy every second of his ever shortening life. He’s deep like that. Yesterday, Yifan had seafood ramen so today he feels like kimchi. He reaches for the package with a decisive mind and walks back up to the register.

Jongdae is already waiting for him, a tray filled with gimbap, heated vegetable pancakes, and a pudding. He holds out his hand for Yifan’s ramen.

“Is it me or have you been coming in later?” The younger man enquires as he scans the ramen and quickly turns around to pour in some boiling water. Yifan watches on intently, his water level has to be precise for the noodles to turn out perfect and all the employees know it, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

“We signed a new company. It’s a mess, their previous security system was basically nonexistent, I don’t even know how they lasted this long.”

Yifan works at a security firm, relatively big and exponentially growing. He should probably count himself lucky to have a secure job at a credible company doing things he’s been always good at and learned to enjoy. However, the reality is that jobs come with pitfalls and his are customer service and inconsistent hours. Which he had to deal with both today.

Jongdae places the cup on Yifan’s tray and the taller man pays with a satisfied smile. He makes his way to his corner of the shop where the seats are looking out to the street and spaced out in a way that gave customers a sense of privacy. Luckily, no one is there at this hour so Yifan plants himself right in the middle and quickly attacks his meal.

Halfway through he feels a buzzing in his pocket, an alarm going off. A smile stretches over his face and he searches through his pockets for his earphones. Jongdae chuckles amusedly in the background, already well aware of his customer’s antics and habits as Yifan releases a triumphant little cheer.

It was five minutes before his nightly radio broadcast that wrapped up his day.

“...coming soon and I’m so excited. Unfortunately, it’s almost time for me to end so I’ll be leaving you guys with this last song, Forgetting the Sunset by Zhang Yixing. This has been DJ Byun Byul, the star guide for your drive home. I’ll miss you all till tomorrow but no worries my lovelies, our studio’s heartthrob DJ Park is coming up next. Goodnight my lovelies!”

Jongdae places a warm cup of jasmine tea on the table next to Yifan’s tray and mouths “on the house” before leaving the man to enjoy his pudding and an hourly talk and music show he listens to religiously. Jongdae had offered to play the station on the store’s stereo but Yifan insisted on listen with his earphones, the sound was in much higher quality.

Many people found Yifan’s dedication to the show to be “cute” but Yifan was nothing but a determined and a devoted fan like many others in Republic of Korea. The show was the most listened to radio show that had won many awards and recognitions from powerful and famous people. The show played up-and-coming songs and artists from various genres and had an ever popular talk show that had an interesting topic each night and welcomed listeners to actively participate in the debates. It was gold.

However, like Yifan, many had another reason to listen and that was for one and only DJ Park.

“Good evening,” a smooth voice rings through Yifan’s ears and a shiver runs down the man’s back, “DJ Park in the house.” There’s a slight chipper tone in the DJ’s voice that Yifan quickly picks up on and it makes him happy to know that his favorite DJ had a good day. “Before anything, can we all agree that DJ Byun Byul is so generous with his introductions. He consistently keeps introducing me as a “heartthrob” so now I feel burdened. Disclaimer, I am not a heartthrob but I do appreciate the compliment.”

Yifan can hear each of his words drenched in pure emotion and truth that he can just imagine the troubled look on the DJ’s face. Not that he’s seen the man’s face. No one has. Except for the studio people, but DJ Park’s identity has been a national secret or, at least, if felt like it to Yifan. He knew exactly what DJ Byun Byul looked like, he’s on all the social media sites and his crescent eye smile was on many billboards. However, no matter how hard Yifan researched, even using his extensive hacking knowledge, he wasn’t able to locate the DJ.

Yifan believes that if he knew the DJ’s full name, it would make everything so much easier. However, there were too many Park’s in Seoul. That being said, it never discouraged Yifan from imagining what the DJ would look like. Even now, as he listens to the man speak and introduce the nightly topic, he tries to place a face to the voice.

It was the voice that first got to Yifan. He had been going from station to station looking for a good song to listen to when he stumbled onto the end of a song by State Property, something that he never thought he would hear on a radio. In Korean. It was enough to have him listening till the end until that voice began speaking.

From the beginning, it sent a strange sensation down his back, all the way to his toes, a strange but beautiful sensation. He didn't even hear what the voice said, just the fact that it was resonating through his speakers and into his ears, brain, soul was enough. Once he was back to his senses and listening to the actual words, he found himself laughing along with the funny bits and chest tightening up whenever something emotional was on. It was a rollercoaster and Yifan loved it.

DJ Park was special in many ways and Yifan was more than happy to have found him.

“While we wait for callers to start connecting, I would like to share a funny occurrence I’ve witnessed couple of times now. Actually, the most recent one happened last night. Some of you guys were waiting outside our station, stopping everyone that passed by the doors, demanding them to speak. Later I found out that you all were waiting for me!” He chuckles and Yifan follows along. Some people were even worse than him with their idolization of the DJ. “I don’t even know how I was able to dodge everyone but I did and I just want to say that you are free to do whatever, as long as it’s not illegal or a hindrance to others. That’s all, my quick PSA but let’s take our first call, hello?”

The remaining 46 minutes was spent with Yifan looking out at the street, cars and people passing by with no attention to the man watching them, and listening to DJ Park get into heavy debates with his listeners about the culture behind bowing in Asian countries. Yifan deems it as a time well spent. He learned a great deal and satisfied his craving for DJ Park. Good end to his night.

“Here.” Joonmyun hands yet another packet over to Yifan who looks ready to murder the next fly that passes by, he’s too nice to hurt anything else, with a tired smile. Yifan groans as he looks through the documents and wonders why he agreed to be the head of the project just because he’s the only person with enough experience and knowledge for the job. Others could’ve learned and done okay, even Joonmyun, with no computer knowledge, would be a great substitute for him. He just wanted to go home, screw obligations and trust of his coworkers. At least that’s what keeps running through his head but he doesn’t really mean it, any of it. He’s just tired and overworked but he’s also so close to finishing the work that he can almost taste the freedom.

Unfortunately, their new client, after being told multiple times to not to, installed all the new software without a complete network scan, ultimately freezing their systems and creating more work for Yifan and his team. What Yifan had hoped would be done with by 8 is now, if he’s lucky, pushed to 11 or, if not, past midnight.

He doesn’t have much time to complain and pout when his team members keep coming up one after another to his desk to get his approval and discuss things that he actually has to use his brains for. It’s been a long day and there’s no sign of it ending anytime soon.

Joonmyun comes back up to his desk with a cup of hot black coffee, the smell strong enough to pierce through the stale air of the office room. The man was the head of the sales team in charge of mediating between them and the new company. He had nothing important to do until Yifan was done with his part. He smiles, as always, and hands the cup to his colleague and looks over the piles of work, some complete and many more still awaiting completion.

“How’re you holding up?”

Yifan blows into the coffee before taking a big gulp. The hotness burns his mouth but it somehow feels good, almost making his shot nerves forcefully come back to life, spreading the warmth to every cell of his body. He rubs his tired eyes from the long hours of staring into his computer and finally acknowledges his colleague.

“No one’s here to answer your call, please leave a message after the tone,” he drones on, “beep.”

Joonmyun sighs and scans over all that is Wu Yifan. His annoying, straight faced, bossy friend. His dress shirt is no longer tucked in and the top three buttons are undone, belt that was holding his slacks up is placed on the back table next to his long forgotten lunch, and his styled hair is the only thing that is left as it was in the morning.

“In that case, Mr. Wu, your friend would like to know if you’re actually working or daydreaming about a certain show with a certain DJ?” Sometimes Joonmyun likes to be the devil’s advocate and make those around him suffer. Yifan swears by it.

“What?” Yifan tilts his head, mind obviously stuck in work. Realization slowly sets in as he whips his head around to look at the massive holographic watch on the right wall of their IT department. His face visibly drains in color as he looks back to his friend who’s smiling with his angelic face.

“Doesn’t DJ Park go on at 8? It’s 8:17.”

Yifan looks like he's about to cry, remembering that his phone’s battery died sometime after lunch, and Joonmyun now feels bad, he didn’t mean to actually cause this much distress for his friend, he still can’t believe how much Yifan likes the radio show. Sure, Yifan makes him work on crazy projects and a stickler about mistakes but that’s all for the good of the company and their clients, Joonmyun’s prank on the man was only for his own enjoyment and maybe that’s not fair to Yifan. Maybe.

“Hey, don’t get down so easily. I’m sure you can find a recording of the show somewhere, it won’t be that bad to miss a single show, right?”

However, with each of Joonmyun’s comforting words, Yifan looks more and more darker and less and less like he’s actually listening to him speak at all. Maybe it’s about time he left the man and went back to his own work. That’s exactly what he does, checking Yifan with each step to make sure the man doesn’t explode from grief.

Yifan looks down at his dead phone. He only needs to charge it, open the app and plug his earphones and spend the remaining 40 minutes making up for his lost time. However, the more responsible side of him, the side that got him to the place he was today, pushes his urges away with great effort. He’s an adult and he has adult things to do.

Even though he goes back to work, it doesn’t stop his mind from wandering, thinking of all things that is DJ Park. Mainly his looks, something he’s been more obsessed with as of late, trying to match the man’s voice to his looks. Everyone would agree that DJ Park’s voice was deep but not too deep. It was somehow very comforting, the vibrations of his vocal cords almost visible and physical like a comfortable blanket on a snowy day.

Each word rolls out so easily and glides on the listener's eardrums with a gentle rhythm that leaves one craving for more. It’s hard for Yifan to describe his experience when listening to DJ Park, he wasn’t that eloquent with his words; however, one thing he’s sure is that Yifan has a very specific image in his head.

What image, some might ask (none has but Yifan shared it with enough people for them to know it well). DJ Park seems to have a calm personality but is not afraid to get emotional about important topics. From his extensive knowledge of too many topics that even Yifan had never heard of or considered as an interesting conversation piece makes the man an intellect in Yifan’s eyes. He probably has that typical “smart” person features.

Yifan imagines DJ Park to be clean cut but with no distinct features, average, not someone who would be noticed once they walk into a room. There had to be a reason as to why he was a radio host who never showed his face, right? Maybe that was why no one noticed him when he was walking in and out of the station. Maybe he had a horrific scar or something he wasn’t comfortable with showing?

With a dejected sigh and a shake of his head, Yifan brings himself right back to reality where work is waiting for him and the more he pushed it off, the worse it gets both for him and his colleagues. He has a reputation of a reliable team leader to uphold.

Thinking of DJ Park’s identity will have to wait.

The bell rings like it always does, the light as blinding as always, but somehow, in a strange way, it all feels completely new. This is Yifan’s first time coming to the Mini-Mart after midnight and it’s all too Twilight Zone in his mind. The fact that there were no cars on the roads was the start of his new experience. He’s in Seoul, probably top 20 most populous cities in the world. What are the chances that Yifan doesn’t see anyone out at midnight? Not even cars? It’s too creepy.

The face that greets him is also new, however, he knows the man as the owner who takes over the night shifts from Jongdae. If he remembers correctly, the young doll like man smiling at him is called Luhan. Chinese, just like him, the reason the man was brought up in a past conversation to begin with.

However, from all the times Yifan had visited the mart, this was their first encounter.

“Are you, by any chance, Yifan?” The man asks, startling Yifan as he was turning into the ramen aisle. With as much grace and coherency he can muster, he nods and Luhan’s smile widens. “Jongdae told me that our regular was running late and left me a tray of food that I suppose I should heat for you?”

“Yes, thank you.” And he really means it. It’s late, he’s tired and little makes sense so Yifan will take any assistance with great appreciation. He doesn’t spend time deciding what he wants, picking up the first package he sees and high tailing right back to the cashier.

Luhan already has everything prepared for him and they finish their transaction without speaking, only exchanging money and smiles. Yifan nods in thanks and walks over to his usual seating area, checking the time on the side wall, bright and flashing in neon lights. It’s already one in the morning. Good thing he doesn’t have to be at work until the afternoon, he really needs all the sleep he can get.

Unfortunately, like with everything that night, Yifan’s steps falter when he notices another person hunched over the long table, head comfortably placed on long folded arms. He can’t see the face, only the fluffy brown locks that look very soft in comparison to his own short, black hair. He’s seen people at the dining area before and it never bothered him; however, something about eating dinner so late and just being tired makes him overly sensitive to many things. He feels slightly territorial to his own surprise.

With a deep sigh, he’s disappointed in himself and his childish ways, he quietly places down his tray and takes a seat. He spots three cars in the parking lot, one parked at an employee area, the second is his and the third, he guesses, is the man’s that’s sleeping two seats down from him. A fleeting thought pass through his mind, wondering if the man next to him might be a drunk. If so, it’s a good thing he’s not driving.

He doesn’t waste another minute waiting, scooping up the hot broth. It’s too comforting and not healthy at all to be eating this late but his body doesn’t care when it’s hot and tastes this amazing. He wants to hum in happiness but his mouth is busy in noodles and more broth.

Yifan’s eyes casually roam around his surroundings as he chews the perfectly heated noodles when he takes in the sight next to him. For the first time since he sat down, for a good five minutes now, he finally sees the face of his silent company. Half of the man’s face is still covered by his arms but the half that Yifan can see is enough.

He forgets to chew.

The man’s really attractive. In an innocent way. Which is kind of strange for Yifan. From the simple once over, Yifan thinks he might be his height, long legs, torso, and arms. However, his face is, like his hair, nothing like Yifan’s. Many people think that Yifan’s features are sharp and matching to his intimidating presence. The man next to him looks so soft, his features all relaxed and unguarded. His lips are puffy and in a small pout, slightly open. Yifan may or may not have stared a little too long.

“Customer-nim, you can’t sleep here.” Comes Luhan’s voice from behind the sleeping man’s body, startling Yifan for the second time that night. It’s frightening how he didn’t hear the smaller Chinese man approach them and wonders if he saw him staring.

The sleeping man’s nose scrunches up and it looks too cute in Yifan’s tired mind. He tries his best to go back to his dinner but the small movements in his peripheral vision is too distracting.

“Customer-nim?” Luhan tries again and Yifan wants to tell him to just let the man sleep. But this was not his shop so he doesn’t get to make the rules. Finally, the man stirs and fully sits up. His fingers come up to scratch his chest area while gently rolling his head. Yifan definitely doesn’t pay attention. “I apologize, but you told me to wake you up if you fell asleep,” Luhan bows, looking slightly worried, “will you be able to drive home?”

Yifan smiles around his gimbap, maybe Luhan was more caring and gentle than what Jongdae had told him. The brunette man has his back turned to Yifan but he can see him nodding. Luhan walks away and it’s Yifan and the stranger once again. The man turns back to Yifan to clean around himself and to put away his belongings into his bag.

Out of instinct, Yifan ends up turning his head to come face to face with the stranger who is much more awake than before. The man’s eyes widen in surprise and Yifan’s taken aback at how big they are. He tells himself to not be awkward and smile because the stranger looks slightly frightened. However, an impressive smile is directed towards him, pearly whites proudly shining and inviting a timid smile from Yifan. The man’s smile doesn’t disappear and he nods once and gets out of his chair. He walks away while Yifan watches the man with the most beautiful one in the morning smile he has ever seen.

“Have a good night.”

Wait. Yifan’s brain comes to a sudden halt and he chooses that moment to swallow while his whole body was put on a pause, causing him to begin coughing uncontrollably. The man, who had bid his farewells and was stepping outside, turns around in alarm. In a split second, the stranger is back in front of Yifan, who is, unfortunately, still coughing.

“Are you okay? Would you like me to hit your back? Maybe water?” Questions come shooting out of the man’s mouth but the more he speaks the more Yifan freaks out.

That voice. He would recognize that voice anywhere. Yifan had spent an hour five days a week for a little over a year listening to the man’s voice and he would be ashamed if he couldn’t recognize it in real life. There was no way he would be wrong.

This is the voice.

He takes a deep breath, fully aware of a warm palm over his back, and looks up to meet the guy’s face once again. A relieved expression washes over the man’s face as he smiles again and gently shakes his head.

“That scared me but are you okay now?”

The tone, the depth, the smoothness of the voice is exactly like DJ Park’s.

“Are you a radio host?” Yifan wants to smack himself because that was not the first thing he should be asking after almost dying on rice and seaweed. The surprised look on the man’s face also doesn’t sit well with him and he wants to apologize and just go back home and sleep. Maybe he is DJ Park but didn’t want his identity reveal and Yifan just ruined it for him.

“Yeah.” comes out a breathy admission, the man looking sheepishly shy as he rubs the back of his neck. Yifan really should stop talking but his mouth opens before he can do anything else.

“DJ Park?”

The man’s eyes slightly widen in surprise like his voice wasn’t at all unique and not recognizable or anything. Anyone would be able to identify his voice. Yifan wants to laugh.

“Yeah,” DJ Park, Yifan wants to jump in joy, admits with another sheepish smile. “Surprise, DJ Park in flesh.”

Yifan has to take a moment to recognize the fact that he is in front of the man he’d been dreaming of meeting and the fact that DJ Park was the cutest thing in the world is doing things to his knees. Good thing he’s sitting down. The DJ’s face and mannerism was nothing like what Yifan had imagined. He couldn’t suppress himself anymore. Yifan really needs better control of his body, especially his mouth.

“Will you have dinner with me?”

A noise comes from behind the DJ and Yifan can see Luhan covering his mouth to stop his laughing. He also thinks this whole thing is too absurd as DJ Park’s face looks more and more surprised with each thing that comes out of Yifan’s mouth so he wants to just call it a night. A long eventful night. Yup. A good night.

Yifan is staring. No, he’s glaring at his phone. More specifically, he has been glued to the screen of his phone ever since he woke up. Joonmyun knocks on the man’s desk to get his attention. They technically should be working.

“Lost something in there or have you just lost your mind? You’ve been staring at your phone since you sat down.” Yifan shakes his head in disbelief, blinking couple of times and shows Joonmyun his screen. Joonmyun leans closer and inspects it. There’s nothing but a name and a phone number. “Uhm... you have someone’s phone number?” He tries to understand his friend. It’s hard sometimes. Yifan groans and sits back into his seat with a deep sigh.

“It’s not just someone, okay?”

“DJ Park? So, someone famous then?”

Yifan wonders how Joonmyun has managed to survive for so long. He lives in his own bubble. Yifan turns his attention to a closest person to him, besides Joonmyun, and spots the new intern.

“Jongin, you know DJ Park?”

The brunette smiles at his seniors and nods his head with enthusiasm.

“On Life FM? The guy’s so cool and funny. I think the whole nation listens to him.” Yifan smiles and gives the younger man a thumbs up which brightens the youth’s face that much more. He turns back to Joonmyun with a pointed look but the other man just rolls his eyes.

“Excuse me for not being part of the nation. So you managed to somehow get the man’s number. You sure it’s even real?” There’s a teasing tone in Joonmyun’s words but Yifan knows. Oh, he knows it’s real. He hasn’t been staring at the phone number all morning for nothing.

He had enough time to remember everything that happened last night.

When he woke up that morning, it was all like a dream. He remembered asking DJ Park to go out for dinner and the man actually agreeing to it. He had a smile while putting his phone number into Yifan’s phone and even called himself so that Yifan’s number would be in his phone. Yifan wasn’t able to say or do much besides just stare at the man in front of him.

Luhan may or may not have shook his head with a knowing smile that made Yifan feel uncomfortable but it was all worth it when he got his phone back and a smile from a man he’d been idolizing. Before leaving, DJ Park told Yifan that he would text him when he’s free to set up their dinner. Yifan was so ready to ask if it was a date but the DJ was long gone.

It’s now a cherished memory in Yifan’s mind and he doesn’t even mind if the man never contacts him again. He’s just happy to have seen him.

Yifan’s phone buzzes at exactly five minutes after DJ Park’s show. The man was finishing up his pudding when he saw the text notification that had him pausing to stare. It’s one of his habits as of recently.

Sorry for the late text, just finished my show!

21:05

I got my schedule, I’m free this Saturday. Still

interested in getting dinner?

21:06

Yifan looks down with a smile, carefully contemplating his reply. He didn’t want to come off as too eager but also not like he wasn’t interested or anything. He was the one who asked in the first place so he felt the need to take care of the arrangements and take the initiative. Even if this was not an actual date.

No worries, I just finished dinner. Saturday works

perfectly for me, how does Sky Rose Garden

sound like? I’ve been told they have good food.

21:11

God, that sounds so weird but Joonmyun had raved about the spot and he’s taking a giant leap of chance with this whole thing to begin with. If the DJ doesn’t want to go, Yifan’s more than willing to go somewhere else. However, Joonmyun was amazing with his advertisement and Yifan is convinced that the Rose Garden is the perfect spot.

Sounds interesting, I think I’ve heard of the

place. Isn’t it on top of a movie theatre? Maybe

we can watch something too? If that’s cool.

21:13

Yifan is silently singing inside, body shaking in joy. He couldn’t believe how agreeable the other man was but he wasn’t complaining. However, the prospect of watching a movie on top of eating dinner is sounding more and more like a date and the giddiness inside of him is only multiplying. He takes a deep breath before replying.

Do you have a movie in mind?

21:15

I’ll make reservations so let’s just meet at the

movie theater? If that’s easier? But should we do

movies or dinner first?

21:16

Movie first! I don’t want to be rushed during dinner.

21:17

Also, it’ll give us something to talk about... JK!!!

I don’t mean that you’re boring or anything...

Oh gosh! Sorry, that came out wrong TT_TT

21:18

Yifan is definitely laughing. He can clearly imagine the man freaking out, he’s heard him do so couple of times during his show and it made the DJ that much more endearing. Now that Yifan knew the man’s face, he wonders how he looks like when all flustered. Hopefully he will see it in two days.

No worries, I’ll come prepared with all the topics we

can discuss ;) What movie do you want to watch?

21:19

They finish up in another thirty minutes, deciding on a movie and a time that wasn’t too late. Yifan feels a sense of accomplishment after placing down his phone with a content smile. His tray of food is long forgotten as his mind drifts off to his ‘date’ with DJ Park, thinking of anything and everything that could happen, both good and bad. He wonders if he’s being too hopeful with all his planning, maybe the DJ was doing this for his show, the next hot topic: Desperate Fan’s Desperate Ways, or something like that. Everything happened so easily that it’s beginning to worry Yifan. They just met three days ago, didn’t even have a full conversation (staring while the other talked was not a conversation), and now they were going to the movies and having dinner? Way too convenient.    

“Are you done with that?” Jongdae’s voice shakes off Yifan’s uneasy mind as the worker reaches out to clean his tray. Yifan nods and smiles in appreciation. He’s tired, finally finished with all the projects, and all Yifan wants to do right now is to dive into his bed and not think about anything. Well, maybe a little about his plans on Saturday, but that’s all.

Yifan is nervous. He’s not been this nervous in a long time. Even when he gave a major presentation a week ago in front of a company’s board members. He was prepared and was in control of everything. He owned the room with his overflowing confidence. However, right now he felt extremely inadequate, standing in front of the steps to the large building. There are too many people, everyone out on the weekend to enjoy their well-earned break. However, Yifan’s eyes keep falling on couples, wistfully wondering when he last went out and had a romantic relationship. The fact that it takes him a good five minutes to trace back his life till that moment tells him it’s been too long.

He’s been waiting for a little over ten minutes, he ended up taking a taxi and got to his destination much earlier than anticipated. The traffic was surprisingly calm for a Saturday evening. The sun is now beginning to disappear behind the tall buildings but the August air is comfortable, Yifan doesn’t mind standing outside to wait.

His eyes roam over the masses, trying to locate a face he’s seen once. They are both tall, so Yifan doesn’t worry about not finding the man, eyes going immediately to those that are head taller than the crowd.

“Excuse me?” Yifan’s eyes widen and he whips around quickly because that voice. He definitely recognizes that voice. “It is you, I was worried that I’ve got the wrong person.” Park sheepishly smiles towards a stunned Yifan. How did he get behind him when Yifan was doing nothing but scanning everything that moved?

“Yes, hello!” Smooth, Yifan groans internally.

“I know this is weird and I should’ve asked you earlier, but what’s your name? I saved your phone number as Mini-Mart guy!” That smile is too blinding and he looks way younger with those bright features. Yifan just wants to keep staring but he needs to be normal and answer the question.

“Yifan, Wu Yifan.”

“Yi... Yifan?” The man rolls the syllables out experimentally, making sure to enunciate the foreign name correctly. Yifan nods in approval and gets assaulted with another set of bright smiles and shining eyes. Screw normality, the man’s too cute for that. “I’m Park Chanyeol. It’s a pleasure to fully meet you.” He sticks out his hand.

Yifan returns the sentiment and repeats his name in his head like a mantra. Park Chanyeol’s a perfect name for the man and Yifan finally knows it. They shake hands and somehow Yifan manages to direct them into the building, buy some snacks (Chanyeol pays because Yifan bought the tickets) and makes their way to the theatre.

Neither of them speak too much, only asking what they like to eat and how excited they were to see the movie. Yifan doesn’t mind it though. Chanyeol’s presence is comfortable, face in constant subtle smile that tells Yifan that he is enjoying his time.

Yifan pays more attention to Chanyeol than to the screen. Not surprising, honestly, he’s very attractive and Yifan is not immune to the childish wonder in Chanyeol’s eyes with each passing trailer. Who knew people enjoyed trailers as much as the DJ did. Yifan tries to watch too, not wanting to seem creepy by staring at the man sitting next to him, but Chanyeol doesn’t seem to mind or care so nothing is really stopping Yifan.

The movie is good or at least the parts that Yifan managed to catch. It’s a comedy with good amount of action and Chanyeol’s eyes are glued to the screen, reactions appropriate to every scene and Yifan just simply ends up follow Chanyeol’s actions.

There are couples everywhere, as Yifan scans the theatre. None of them are disrupting his movie watching experience with excessive PDA or anything, but Yifan is fully aware of them and keeps noticing the small “coupley” things they do. His eyes shift to Chanyeol to see if the man notices any of them but, of course, the movie is substantially more interesting.

After two hours and fifteen minutes, they exit the movie theatre, walking towards elevators that would lead them to their dinner destination. Chanyeol excitedly reviews every moment of the movie, bringing up technical terms that even Yifan doesn’t know of. Not to sound mean, but Yifan thinks that Chanyeol’s cute face doesn’t do him justice with how intellectual the man is, but he also doesn’t want Chanyeol’s face to be any different.

“You alright?” Chanyeol asks, head slightly tilted in the most cliché way that makes Yifan internally squeal. Yifan wonders if he was staring again or making a strange face, he just nods and smiles. Chanyeol nods right back and continues his deep analysis of character development in comedy movies or lack thereof.

“Why did you agree to this?” Yifan hears himself asking once they are seated and looking over their menu. He had meant to wait after they order but his mouth sometimes just works without his control.

Chanyeol’s eyes move away from the menu to meet Yifan’s expectant, slightly worried eyes. The man leans back into his seat, forearms on the arm of the chair, menu hovering over his thighs. The sun has officially set but the fairy lights around them are creating a strange romantic ambience that makes all of Chanyeol’s movements slow and sensual. The flowers are also not much of a help. Chanyeol shrugs.

“It was really sudden and ballsy of you to just ask me but I thought it would be worth going to dinner with someone like that. It’s hard to put it into words but I just thought, ‘why not?’ Also, I don’t know anyone who would actually reject you.”

“What? Why?” Yifan could interpret his words in many ways, but he wants to save himself the disappointment and just ask straight out. He hates misunderstandings. However, the small tint of pink over Chanyeol’s cheeks are elevating his hopeful thoughts even more.

“I don’t know, you’re hot?” The admission makes Chanyeol blush harder, his prominent ears are completely red and Yifan can’t stop a smile. “God, did I just say that? I’m sorry, that was weird of me to say that.” The brunette tilts down to hide his face behind the menu, causing Yifan to bolt out of his seat to reach the offending object and lower it down. He smiles in triumph.

“I also think you’re very attractive.” Chanyeol’s smile is, as always, blinding, the blush never leaving as he nods in thanks. The waitress comes right after, eyes moving between the two men before taking their orders. She leaves with a promise of complimentary finger food, a special for the week, and Chanyeol’s smile gets even more radiant. Maybe Yifan’s just biased.

“So, what do you do?” Chanyeol takes a sip of his drink as he leads the conversation.

“I work for a security company. Businesses hire us to put up security cameras in their buildings and set up a monitoring rooms and stuff like that. I mainly work at setting up the software that runs it all and protects their computer systems.” He feels comfortable discussing things he’s so familiar with and slightly proud when Chanyeol looks very impressed with his words.

“Oh, that’s really cool. I’m kind of hopeless with anything that’s electronic. The studio guys set everything up for me and tell me to not touch anything.” He pouts childishly, shoulders dropping and Yifan has a small aneurism. “I’m only allowed to scroll through the comments.”

Yifan wants nothing more than to reach out and ruffle the man’s hair. It looks so soft and Chanyeol looks like he’s ready to be comforted. However, a thought takes over Yifan’s mind and he comes back to his senses.

“Wait, is that why you don’t have a social media site?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol sighs, “I don’t even have a smartphone,” he reaches into his pocket and takes out an old flip phone that Yifan hasn’t seen since he was like five. He didn’t even know they still existed. Pardon his ignorance. “I went through three different phones before I found this. It hasn’t broken on me so I’m stuck to it now.”

Yifan is both surprised and amazed. He doesn’t know how to approach this. Everyone around him, even Joonmyun who works in the sales division and doesn’t know the difference between a RAM drive and a hard drive, have their lives built around technology. No wonder Yifan couldn’t find Chanyeol no matter how hard he tried.

“I think people like you are amazing, I wish I could learn but Sehun, he’s my maintenance engineer, tried and failed miserably. He’s actually always on guard whenever I come too close to the control console.”

“Maybe I could give a shot?” Yifan tries his luck again. He really wants to have an excuse to meet the man again and he’s not too prideful to not bite into this bone. Chanyeol’s eyes turn into crescents as he smiles without showing his teeth, the first time Yifan has ever seen this type of smile and he wonders what other smiles the man has.

The food arrives and everything goes smoothly. Chanyeol eyes Yifan’s steak briskets and carefully voices out if it’s too much of him to ask for one. Yifan gladly gives him two. Chanyeol returns the gesture with a whole lobster tail and Yifan doesn’t know how fair that is, but Chanyeol insists it’s alright, he wants to share.

Yifan isn’t a big foody, pretty obvious from his nightly ramen sessions. However, something about eating with Chanyeol and him eloquently describing tastes and textures makes Yifan want to eat more and more amazing foods, preferably with Chanyeol. Yifan realizes that Chanyeol is really good with his words and there’s no doubt to why he’s a radio host. His words are gold.

They end up ordering dessert. A chocolate mountain fudge cake to share. Their waitress asks them if they wanted something to drink with their dessert and Chanyeol orders them both two cups of espresso.

“Chocolate and coffee? Well, I’m not sleeping tonight.” Yifan makes an offhanded comment, not thinking too much about it. However, once the words come out, he’s face begins to heat up. Chanyeol’s lips stretch into a knowing smile but it doesn’t last long, he ends up just laughing.

“Wow, our minds are full of trash. Your comment was pretty innocent but we both end up like this.” He shakes his head in mock disappointment and Yifan is glad that Chanyeol doesn’t make a big deal out of it and just easily makes it into a light joke. He decides to give it another push and see how Chanyeol takes it from there.

“Hopefully, I won’t be alone all night.” He dramatically sighs and the gleeful smile in Chanyeol’s eyes doesn’t disappear.

“I also hope not because I’m having lots of fun.”

“Then, should we, like, hangout more after this?” Yifan, all of a sudden, feels less confident. Chanyeol leans forwards and places his chin on his palm, long fingers tapping over his jaw line in contemplation. The smile never leaves his face though.

“Under one condition.” Chanyeol speaks after a minute of silence. Yifan raises an eyebrow in question, ready for whatever condition Chanyeol was creating for them to hang out more in the future. “It has to be a date.”

Yifan’s eyes widen in shock and amazement. He thought he was being ballsy but Chanyeol was also manning up and taking charge. He likes that a lot. No wonder he likes Chanyeol so much. Yifan leans forward and imitates Chanyeol’s posture. His smile widens along with Chanyeol’s as they are now only inches away from each other. There’s only one thing left for Yifan to do, to say. He’s been ready for this since he first heard Chanyeol’s voice.

“Call!”