“Is this the place?” Minghao pointed to the left side of the road.

“Yeah! I’m glad it's still open.” Vernon was still holding Minghao’s hand, even though both were sweaty by now. Minghao turns into the parking lot and finds a spot close to the entrance. They exit the car and walk into the restaurant, Your Affection. What a weird name for a restaurant, it’s almost like someone is bad at naming things. The place had a bright yellow theme to it with sky blue, lime green, red and orange accents, it honestly hurt Minghao’s eyes but Vernon seemed to enjoy the place.

“How many?” The hostess asked politely,

“Two.” Vernon answered.

“Table or booth?” Vernon looked at Minghao who gave him a weird look.

“Booth.” Minghao answered. They followed the hostess to their booth and sat down.

“What was with that look?” Vernon asked when the hostess left.

“No one sits at tables so it was weird when you looked at me.” Minghao said simply, Vernon snorted.

“Hello, my name is Eunkyung and I’ll be your waitress for the evening. Can I get you started with anything?”

“Dr.Pepper please.” Minghao said first.

“I’ll have Dr.Pepper as well.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back with your drinks.” The waitress smiled.

“I love Dr.Pepper it’s like drinking the blood of the gods.” Minghao said when the waitress disappeared.

“That’s a weird terminology but it makes sense. What is your religious beliefs anyways?” Vernon asked curiously.

“Its a mix of The Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster, Lord Helix, and one of the Cults of Cthulhu. I’m also a member of the Church of Hanzo.” Minghao shrugged his shoulder and Vernon laughed.

“Here are your drinks, do you know what you’re going to order?” The waitress placed their drinks down and both men said thanks.

“Can we have a few minutes?” Minghao asked.

“Sure! I’ll be back in a few minutes, take your time.” The waitress walked to another table.

“But I’m serious are you religious in any sort?” Vernon pestered.

“I just told you what I believed in… I wasn’t joking.” Minghao looked at Vernon in the eyes. “I have the gospel of the flying spaghetti monster right next to my bed along with all of H.P Lovecraft's stories and I have the final prophecy memorized. I even have a tattoo of Cthulhu and Lord Helix on my back.” Vernon stared at him with a gaping mouth. Minghao reached over the table and closed it.

“I… I don’t know what to say… I mean that’s cool you believe in that… Stuff? I just never expected to meet someone who took it so seriously I guess?” Vernon was at a loss for words, Minghao smirked.

“Dude I’m just ing with you. I don’t actually believe in any of that, I just thought it was cool or funny so I read about it.” Minghao laughed as Vernon let out a sigh of relief. “But the tattoo part wasn’t a lie. I was drunk and the dude was totally cool with tattooing a passed out drunk dude for the whole night. I couldn’t sleep on my back for days. Tattoo came out amazing tho.” Minghao said nonchalantly. Vernon looked at Minghao in shock.

“Can I see it?” Vernon asked excitedly.

“Right now?” Minghao bit his lip, it wasn’t like he was embarrassed by his tattoo which was a total lie, but the older didn’t want other people to see him take off his shirt.

“No! Later, later… We should probably look at the menu, I think the waitress has been waiting for us to look at them.” Vernon chuckled.

“Right!” Minghao finally picked up the plastic menu and scanned the items, Vernon did the same. There was a little bit of discussion over what they would order before they finally decided and signaled the waitress that they were finally ready to order. She happily walked over and quickly took the orders to the back.

“So Mr.Choi, I have a very important question for you.” Minghao batted his eyes at the younger.

“Uhh, what is it?” Vernon asked nervously, not knowing what was going through his date’s head.

“Are you and your housemates,” Vernon paled, “Furries?” Vernon’s face blanked.

“What?”

“You heard me! Are you guys furries!? This is serious, if we are going to do the do at some point than I need to know if you’re a furry. It’s vital information!” Minghao slapped his hand onto the table.

“No! We’re not furries, what gave you that impression!?” Vernon looked like a fish out of water.

“There were a few things I saw but it’s mostly from all the growling and hissing you and Wonwoo did. Plus Mingyu was like a giant cat, he was practically purring in my lap!” Minghao exclaimed but it surprisingly didn’t get the attention from the other people in the restaurant.

“Don’t remind me of Mingyu.” Vernon pouted, “Why does he get to rest his head in your lap?” Minghao smiled sweetly at Vernon, How adorable.

“But you might get to have something Mingyu will never get from me.” Minghao said with a coy smile, causing Vernon to perk up.

“What.” Vernon whispered, eyes sparkling with curiosity, Minghao leaned in closer and Vernon did the same.

“The good from your’s truly.” Minghao whispered, Vernon quickly sat back with a blush blooming from his neck all the way to his ears like a growing rose bush. Minghao snickered uncontrollably, his whole was body shaking.

“You promise?” Vernon was staring at the table.

“Yeah, promise.” Minghao smiled at the younger when he looked up from the table and Vernon smiled back. Eunkyung came by their table a few minutes later with their food and placed it down in front of them, with a quick bow she was gone again.

“I swear waitresses are like ninjas.” Minghao mumbled as he started eating, Vernon chuckled softly. They ate and chatted in between bites, taking turns telling each other simple stories about their lives. Minghao told all sorts of stories from his experience as a pizza delivery boy and Vernon had so many tales from his youth that Minghao wondered if he had an extended childhood. They were relaxing when Eunkyung came by with the check.

“Thank you.” Vernon took it and simply put his card inside the black checkbook and gave it back to her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to split the check?” Minghao asked softly.

“It’s too late now, besides I like paying for you.” Vernon smiled and Minghao didn’t know if he wanted to gag on the cheesiness or blush because the smile was so pure. Eunkyung came back with Vernon’s card and the duo left the restaurant and got back into Minghao’s car.

“Are you tired?” Minghao asked as he started up his car.

“Nope.” Vernon answered, he started flipping through the radio stations.

“You want to go somewhere cool?” Minghao grinned but suddenly frowned. “If it’s still there... but I guess half the adventure will be finding out.” Minghao mused out loud.

“I’m always down for an adventure. Vernon was practically beaming from the mystery of Minghao’s offer.

“Alright but it’s sort of a long drive, like maybe an hour?” Minghao pulled out of the parking lot and started towards the location.

“That means more time to talk.” Vernon chirped, still messing with the radio until he found a song he didn’t hate. The car was filled with small talk and Vernon complaining about the songs playing. Minghao had long since gotten used to whatever came on but Vernon seemed to dislike every other song. With pure boredom, the younger started digging around Minghao’s glove box for anything amusing. It had the typical things like phone chargers, a car manual, misplaced tools, random papers, pens, napkins, a switchblade and other miscellaneous items, but at the very bottom was a clothed box with a zipper keeping it closed. Vernon instantly recognized it and pulled it out with excitement.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had cds.” Vernon was already flipping through the cds, the first few were cds from artists he knew but the rest were burned mix cds. All of them were named with different handwriting styles so Vernon knew that multiple people made these cds. Some had simple names like ‘Chill Zone’ and ‘Salt Bae’  while others had more elaborate names like ‘The Forbidden CD of DEATH,’ and ‘hangover mix to chase my demons away,’ some of the cds also had the time period when they were made like ‘Summer of 2012’ and ‘ Senior Prom 2015.’ Vernon assumed the cds were in order by date because the farther he went the more recent the cds became until he reached the last three titled, ‘Final Finale. R.I.P in Pepperoni,’ ‘Freedom March from this hole,’ and lastly ‘Graduation 2015.’ Vernon felt like he went on a journey about Minghao’s life.

“I forgot all about those.” Minghao laughed nervously, “You can put one in if you want.” Vernon was unsure if Minghao actually wanted to listen to one of the cds based on his bittersweet smile, but picked one out anyways. This one was named ‘I wanted to be a gangster but I’m a little ,’ the first song was an old rap song from like 2009, which didn’t surprise Vernon since the cd was near the front. Both of them sat in silence as they listen to the song, Vernon went back to the last page of cds and considered playing one of those but ended up accidentally turning the page with his constant fidgeting. Vernon knew there were quite a few cdsless pages in the back because no one ever had enough cds to fill in entire cd book but he didn’t expect the empty slots to be filled with multiple pictures and little notes. The younger felt like he was invading Minghao’s privacy but the older didn’t say anything and Vernon couldn’t stop himself from flipping through the pages. He didn’t dare pull out any of the photos he couldn’t see and chose to examine only the front photos. Most of them had two or more people in the shot but there were a few solo shots as well, Vernon was able to pick out Minghao after a few pictures and enjoyed looking at the adorable rebellious Minghao. Everyone looked so happy in the pictures and Vernon couldn’t help but smile as well but the father he went he slowly started to notice a change. The happiness didn’t fade but as the bodies grew the more battered up they became. It wasn’t until the last page came that the happy smiles dulled and light disappeared from their eyes. There were folded pieces of paper wedged in the crease of the last page and back cover, Vernon didn’t touch them, feeling uncomfortable seeing them, so he focused on the recites shoved into the very last slot.

“They’re Sonic recites.” Vernon jumped when he heard Minghao’s voice, they were stopped at a red light.

“Huh?” Vernon scrambled when Minghao handed him the cd. He didn’t even notice the cd had ended.

“We used to go to Sonic a lot and one day we decided to keep the receipts. I wanted to know how much we spent after 4 years. I made the total my senior quote.” Minghao chuckled at the memory as Vernon placed another cd into the stereo, this one was named ‘Romance me up, I dare you, .’.

“How much did it add up to?” Vernon asked.

“My friends and I spent 1,335,480 won(~$1,240) at Sonic.” Minghao smiled. “Man, I loved happy hour so much.” Vernon couldn’t help but smile as well.

“We’re here.” Minghao announced, surprising Vernon.

“I didn’t even notice.” Vernon laughed and looked outside his window, they were in the forest but looking out the front window revealed an open space with a faded rusted gate entrance. They exit the car and Vernon instantly held Minghao’s hand as they walked towards the entrance. He recognized this place from the pictures. It was an unfinished abandoned amusement park, it had a few rides setup, like a merry-go-round and a small ferris wheel but there were mostly old game and food booths. Minghao let go of Vernon’s hand so he could hop onto the hood of a broken down car, he leaned back onto the windshield while Vernon joined him.  

“It’s oddly beautiful here. I can’t place my finger on it but it’s nice, peaceful even.” Vernon said as they looked at the stars. “We should go camping here one day, it’d be fun.” Minghao nodded his head and they stayed like that, lying against the windshield, looking up at the stars, pointing out fake constellations. No one knew how much time passed but Minghao jumped off the car after a while.

“Wait here.” He said before running off somewhere. Vernon waited patiently for the older to return but gasped when the lights started to turn on, then the merry-go-round started to move and finally the ferris wheel started to spin. Rainbow lights sparkled and reflected in Vernon’s eyes as he got up from the car to spin around slowly so he could look at all the lights. Minghao walked up behind his date and pulled him into a back hug.

“Do you like it?” He asked softly.

“I love it.” Vernon turned around to face Minghao, they looked into each others eyes and leaned into a sweet kiss. They broke apart for air and both of them couldn’t grin any wider, this was honestly the most perfect date anyone could ask for.

“You want to go on the two rides available?” Minghao asked in a cute voice.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Vernon asked.

“Probably.” Minghao had a few scars from this place.

“Yes!” That was all Minghao needed to hear before he lead Vernon to the merry-go-round first. The animals were more like hideous monsters than cute animals but Vernon loved them nonetheless. The ferris wheel was easy to get on but they had to jump to get out and it was pretty sketchy. Vernon ended up scraping his hand against the ground but he laughed it off. The date ended with the two of them carving a sappy message into the wood of one of the booths. Neither of them will ever forget this date and the memories they shared.