To Donghae, summer holidays are the best.

Not for the sun, specifically, although that was a major plus (Donghae tans very well if he does say so himself). Not for time on the beach either, although he also isn’t complaining about that. Not even for the fact that there are sales galore in all the biggest shops. Though Donghae does enjoy all of these, rather, the best part of the summer, is that he does not have to go to work.

Sure, Donghae loves teaching. Literature is a passion of his, and being able to share it with others he considers a blessing. But nothing, absolutely nothing, beats having to do little to absolutely no work; holidays for teachers are the best.   

Heading to the park, book in hand, Donghae feels extremely content.

It’s not something he gets to do often, regrettably. In between marking essays and seeing students, managing classes and helping out with organisation at school, there’s barely enough time for Donghae to do some personal reading. Of course, he’d managed to squeeze in at least a chapter a day (it had been his new year’s resolution this year and was already keeping it up very well), but that wasn’t near enough to satisfy Donghae. So, to be able to do whatever he wants for even just three months, Donghae considers a blessing.

The park is pretty much empty when he gets there. Except for the few kids and their families at the playground, and the elderly that walk on the pebble path, there is no one else. So taking a deep breath in, Donghae smiles and sits on a bench not too far from everyone else, but far enough to be able to immerse himself in a fictional universe. 

Which is what he does for the next hour or so. Donghae is about a quarter of the way into the book when he decides to look up; reconnect with the world. There’s a certain feeling that comes with looking away from a world you’d just been immersed it. A certain disorient from life that has you in a hazy null state between what is real and what isn’t. Then comes a certain feeling of emptiness.

Donghae stretches his legs a little bit, feeling slight fatigue from sitting in the same position for too long. He only intends to break for a few minutes so that he can recollect thoughts before diving back into the book. Taking another look around, Donghae smiles, feeling himself become more grounded by the second. He looks over to the kids at the playground, but his vision is blocked. 

Because of the dramatic sun in the background, Donghae has to squint to see who stands in the way. It almost feels accusatory. But when he sees who it is though, he gasps.

Lee Hyukjae.

Lee Hyukjae is standing right there.

And Lee Hyukjae is staring right at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

And boy, he’s even more handsome in real life.

Donghae looks back down at his book immediately, trying to seem somewhat unbothered when one of his favourite idols is standing right there, and they even exchanged eye contact. His eyes remain trained on the book, though not even trying to read the words on the page. He stares at the middle of the book, where it folds from the bind, and his mind is swimming.

Embarrassingly, Donghae has imagined plenty of scenarios in which he and Hyukjae meet. All of them are flying through his head as he notes, slightly panicked, that this situation is like none of his daydreams. In some of them, they meet at a quaint little coffee shop, and in others, they meet at a fan sign where Hyukjae goes by his stage name Eunhyuk. They’d all been cute, little encounters with the idol, but none of them were quite like this.

“Excuse me,” says someone with a voice that is undoubtedly Hyukjae’s low, somewhat raspy voice. 

Donghae makes up his mind as to how he will act in an instant.

He hums in response, looking up at Hyukjae curiously. It takes everything in his will power not to break his poker face, because if he thought Hyukjae was handsome from metres away, he is practically perfect up close. He doesn’t want to seem overly excited about Hyukjae’s presence and scare the man. 

“Do you mind if I…” Hyukjae gestures to the empty space next to Donghae on the bench, who simply shakes his head with a small, polite smile, ignoring the adrenaline. “Cool, thanks.”

Donghae wonders if he can go back to reading his book. Not that he’d actually get any reading done, but just to escape the sudden awkwardness that encases them both in their silence. Although frankly, he wants to be in an engaging conversation with Hyukjae, who sits on the bench as if he’s about to say something at any second. He sits basically at the edge of the seat, and a bit too close, but his body language doesn’t express any comfort in the slightest.

To call this situation odd would be an understatement. 

A few minutes pass and Donghae doesn't even turn a page. He’s sure Hyukjae has noticed; the man seems to be staring at him rather intently, but then suddenly, Donghae is torn from his daydreaming by the idol.

“Look, sorry, I didn’t want to be this up front about this, but do you know who I am?” 

Taken aback by the sudden query, Donghae mutters a small, “sorry?”

“Do you know me? Do you know who I am?”

“I…” Donghae pauses. He doubts there’s anyone that doesn’t know the famous Eunhyuk. He’s been big ever since his company had released a dance practice video from before he even debuted. Ever since then he’d been releasing albums and singles that had all placed highly on the charts, his music videos gaining an insane amount of attention, as well as the fact that he’s the face of almost every brand in the country. The idol’s face is plastered everywhere, and you’d have to not have gone outside in the past five years to not at least recognise his face. This is a big question, and Donghae knows whatever he says can instantly change how things go. So dumbly, he says, “no, sorry, I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Hyukjae answers in reply. He sounds ever so slightly shocked, but also a bit relieved. Donghae suddenly doesn’t want to tell the man in front of him that he’s in his fan club, and has transcended the whole ‘Eunhyuk’ thing and now even calls him by his real name, as more of the dedicated fans do. Then suddenly, Hyukjae smiles, and lets out a small laugh. “Okay.” 

“Why?” Donghae asks, curious. He also wants to just say things to continue the conversation, and listen to Hyukjae talk longer. His voice is much richer in real life, more husky, and Donghae feels absolutely giddy.

“Will you go on a date with me?” He says suddenly, catching Donghae off guard. 

What.

That was not what he was expecting at all. Even though the countless scenarios in his mind had him convinced he was prepared for this moment, it was nothing compared to hearing the question in real life and it just felt so surreal, so…wrong.

“This Friday, seven, at the restaurant down from the Grand Hyatt, is that okay?” Hyukjae continues.

“Huh?” Donghae intelligently replies.

“A date.”

Donghae finds himself nodding dumbly as he watches Hyukjae’s somewhat gleeful reaction, barely knowing what had even happened until they were swapping phone numbers. 

“I’m…Hyukjae, by the way,” he introduces. Donghae smiles slightly. Hyukjae had introduced himself by his real name instead of his stage name and it feels more genuine, more real, and Donghae is on the edge of his seat.

“I’m Donghae, nice to meet you,” he says. Hyukjae laughs and shakes his head endearingly.

“Okay, so I’ll see you then. I’ll text you more details later. See you, Donghae.”

And like that, he’s gone. Donghae has to slap himself in the face to realise that that had been an actual, real encounter with Lee Hyukjae.

[3:02] Hyukjae: Friday, 7pm

Restaurant near Grand Hyatt Hotel

Smart casual. Something somewhat formal without being a suit.

See you then, Donghae

That can’t be a real text from a human being, Donghae thinks after the initial rush of seeing the message notification from Hyukjae. 

It doesn’t seem real, but not in a good way. Rather, it sounds more like an invitation to some sort of gathering of businessmen or something instead of a normal person texting another completely normal person about plans to meet up. It feels impersonal, but then again, Donghae realises he doesn’t know how Hyukjae texts anyway. He might just be a really formal guy, he reasons to himself whilst thinking of how Hyukjae is extremely popular on variety shows for his charms and quick wit.

Nevermind.

So instead of agonising over the text, Donghae decides to be more excited for the date. Because this is what he wants, right?

They had arranged to meet at seven in front of one of the more famous restaurants in Seoul. Donghae had been ready since lunch, not wanting to be late and give Hyukjae a bad first impression. He even went to the effort to iron his favourite dress shirt - a navy blue one that was just a few shades darker than the jeans he wanted to wear. It was an outfit he usually wore to semi formal events at the school, or in case he wanted to impress anyone in particular. Which wasn’t too often, but he was slightly giddy at the thought of making himself up slightly even despite Hyukjae’s oddly specific text message.

Clearly, Hyukjae didn’t have the same mindset, Donghae thought as he checked his phone. Ten minutes past seven. He heaves a sigh of exasperation and tilts his head slightly to get comfortable, too aware of the gel that helps hold his intentionally tousled, hopefully stylish, hair in place. 

He exhales slightly again, and shifts his weight to lean against the wall of the restaurants.

Looking up once more, Donghae notices a figure in the distance that resembles Hyukjae. He feels an instant jolt of excitement, but urges it to calm down a bit as he notices Hyukjae’s outfit. He’s wearing sunglasses, which are a bit of an odd choice. Donghae immediately assumes it for a disguise or something, as it’s pretty ridiculous to be wearing sunglasses when the sun is down. But what makes Donghae also think he’s not in disguise is that Hyukjae is wearing a black turtle neck with a gold choker around it - an interesting choice; Donghae doesn’t think he himself has enough guts to pull that look off. It’s tucked into black skinny jeans with sleek boots with a gold zipper peeking out. It’s a well thought out outfit, simple yet elegant, but looks incredibly warm. It is summer, isn’t it? Donghae doesn’t understand. He’d even rolled up his sleeves for that reason. 

Fashion is weird.

“Hey,” Hyukjae says suavely, approaching Donghae. He tilts his sunglasses down ever so slightly.

“Hello.”

“Sorry I’m late,” Hyukjae apologises. He doesn’t sound too apologetic, but Donghae puts that fact aside as Hyukjae steps past him easily to ask for a table for two.

Donghae follows as they’re seated. He’d kind of been hoping for a small, private table by the edge of some sorts. The restaurant had tables more hidden, and most seated there were couples that seemed to be happily talking privately to one another. Donghae wanted that.

Instead, they sit right in the middle of the restaurant, where some people are already looking over at them. Donghae ducks his head, painfully uncomfortable with the stares that are obviously directed at them. 

Doesn’t Hyukjae want to be discreet about…dating? Donghae thinks. Idols were usually private about their dating lives, hiding them as much as possible from the crowd. But this, this sitting in the middle of a well known restaurant, is not private at all. Donghae frowns.

They sit down comfortably. Or, Hyukjae sits comfortably browsing through the menu as Donghae pretends to be busying himself in the list of dishes, hyperaware of the fact that some people seem to be looking, and even have recognised Hyukjae, who has opted to take off his sunglasses. He's not particularly comfortable with all the attention, and is racking his brain for reasons as to why Hyukjae would have chosen to do this.

The situation doesn’t really scream ‘friends having a chill dinner together’, clearly, as Hyukjae reaches a hand over to Donghae’s and tilts his head with a smile.

“Are you ready to order?”

He looks to their left just in time to see a lady in her late twenties trying to take a quick photo. Donghae can’t tell if Hyukjae had noticed, as he keeps his hand on Donghae’s for a little bit longer, smiling wider.

“Um,” Donghae stalls, not able to hold the eye contact with Hyukjae as he looks down on his empty plate. It feels almost like a camera. Hyukjae looks at him patiently. “You can choose for me.”

“Okay,” Hyukjae says easily, smoothly, raising his hand slightly to call for a waiter as his other hand stays on Donghae. He intertwines their fingers gently, and Donghae looks at their hands. It feels almost like a dream, but also not.

It’s exactly what he'd imagined, but Donghae is nowhere near as happy as he thought he’d be. In fact, he feels a bit uncomfortable, and wants to pull his hand back. However, he buries this thought in the back of his mind and he looks at Hyukjae again, who has a curious expression on his face as he’s looking around for a waiter. It’s replaced by a small smile as a waitress sees him, and Donghae smiles ever so slightly. Hyukjae, despite everything, is still incredibly handsome. So Donghae just leaves their hands the way they are, intertwined yet not intimate in the slightest, and settles into his seat a bit further. 

Donghae zones out a little while Hyukjae is ordering. He watches the way Hyukjae leans to the side as he’s turned towards the waitress, almost too nice that it’s borderline flirty, which leaves a slight bitter taste in Donghae’s mouth. He furrows his brows, and when he finally realises Hyukjae is done, and the waitress has left, Donghae doesn’t even know what the man has ordered.

The rest of the night follows along similarly. They get their respective meals surprisingly quickly, and Donghae notices that the his particular meal, the one Hyukjae ordered for him, looks especially expensive (is that caviar?). Comparatively, Hyukjae’s looks a bit more toned down, and Donghae frowns in distaste. Did Hyukjae want to flaunt his wealth, or was he looking too much into this? Still, he takes a bite and reluctantly keeps eating, not admitting to himself how good the meal actually is. 

Hyukjae asks him harmless questions as they eat, about hobbies and past times. It’s not a bad conversation. In fact, Hyukjae seems genuinely interested in what Donghae has to say, which makes the latter feel a bit guilty that he’s being so closed off. But it’s just as Donghae convinces himself again that the the date is completely fine, totally normal, that the same waitress comes up to them and the feeling that something is going on is multiplied.

“Hello Eunhyuk,” the waitress says, directed to the both of them, but she’s clearly more into the idol, who eyes Donghae nervously. Donghae takes a tentative sip of his water. “How are you and your boyfriend finding the meal?”

Donghae chokes on the water. It’s at this moment that Donghae realises he is, in fact, not having a good time at all.

Hyukjae looks at him apologetically, like he’s aware of how much of an he’s being, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, he tells the waitress that the meal is delicious, thanks, and then she leaves, and they