Minhyuk stares at the wood grain of the table through his glass of red wine. The surface is scuffed and scratched, the waterproof sealant flaking off in spots. Minhyuk helps it along, scraping at it with his fingernail until his hand is covered in tiny brown speckles.

This is Minhyuk’s third glass of wine. He’s been here for over an hour, and he’s lost track of how many times he’s had to tell the waitress he’s expecting someone. Honestly, he’s no longer expecting anyone. He sighs and drops his chin into his palm. He hates to admit it, but he’s pretty sure he’s been stood up.

The blind date had not exactly been his idea. “Meet my friend,” his roommate, Jooheon, had said. “He’s nice and cute. You’ll like him.” The deciding factor had been Jooheon himself. He has good taste in men, and his own boyfriend is proof of that. Changkyun is tiny and adorable and funny, and Minhyuk totally isn’t jealous, thank you very much. The point is, if Jooheon says his friend is nice and cute, his friend will definitely be nice and cute. Minhyuk had assumed that if there wasn’t a spark between them, maybe Minhyuk could at least make himself a new friend.

Unfortunately, Jooheon’s friend is a no-show. There’s probably a good excuse. Maybe his dog got into the box of chocolates the guy was going to give to Minhyuk and got sick and he had to rush him to the vet. Minhyuk doesn’t even know if this guy has a dog, but it seems like a valid reason to stand someone up, at least.

As he wallows in self-pity and debates ordering a to-go plate to eat at home, alone, the waitress appears… with company.

“I know you said you’re waiting for someone, and I’ll still keep an eye out for Mr. Niceandcute, but this gentleman is all alone and we won’t have another table ready for about twenty minutes. I promise to come back and move one of you as soon as another table opens up.”

“It’s fine,” Minhyuk tells her with a wave of his hand. “I don’t think Mr. Niceandcute is gonna show anyway.”

The waitress gives him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on you.”

She leaves, and Minhyuk turns his attention to the man now seated across from him and promptly chokes on his own breath. He’s incredibly, unfairly beautiful. He has plump lips and long, dark eyelashes. His shoulders are as wide as the Grand Canyon, his skin is gorgeously tan and smooth, and Minhyuk would need to use both hands to circle his biceps.

When Minhyuk recovers, the man is looking at him with his eyebrows (thick, intense eyebrows) drawn together in concern. One of his hands is reaching across the table, his fingers just a centimeter from Minhyuk’s.

Minhyuk shakes his head and waves his hands in front of his face to communicate that he’s alright and repeats the action when the man’s eyebrows lift just a tiny bit as if to ask if Minhyuk is sure. Inhaling a shuddering breath, Minhyuk sets his eyes on the table again, on the almost non-existent space between their hands.

After a moment, the man retracts his hand, and Minhyuk glances up to see a shy smile on his face. It makes his eyes squinty and his eyebrows significantly less intimidating. Minhyuk likes it. He smiles back, something small but flirty, accompanied by a batting of eyelashes.

The man’s expression changes again, his eyebrows meeting in the middle as he gestures at the table and shrugs an apology. Minhyuk flutters his fingers to tell him it’s no problem. Truthfully, Minhyuk is happy for the company, especially handsome, adorably shy company.

The waitress returns to take the man’s order, and Minhyuk hears his voice for the first time. He assumes the reason the man hasn’t spoken yet is because he’s too embarrassed to do so, but Minhyuk likes his voice. It’s not too deep or too high, and it’s both quiet and commanding at the same time. Minhyuk decides to stay and eat with the pretty stranger.

“I’m Minhyuk,” he says when the waitress has gone to put in their orders.

“Hyunwoo,” the man replies, even more quietly than when he spoke to the waitress. It’s almost a whisper, and Minhyuk understands that talking is not Hyunwoo’s favorite thing to do. It’s alright, though. They can communicate through gestures and facial expressions. Hyunwoo’s eyebrows are very expressive. This shouldn’t be difficult at all.

The two make eyes at each other as they wait for their food. Hyunwoo sips his rum and coke through the tiny plastic straw, and Minhyuk watches the way his tongue peeks out to find the straw each time, the way his lips wrap around it.

Minhyuk leans his cheek against his fist, elbow propped on the table, and he runs a finger around the rim of his glass until it slips off the edge and dips into the wine. He giggles and watches Hyunwoo’s jaw go slack as he seductively the drop of wine off of his finger. Though the whole wine part hadn’t been intentional, Minhyuk is well aware of how suggestive the move is.

The runner who brings their food barely speaks to them, which is fine because they barely look at him. Minhyuk is too busy biting his lip and enjoying how Hyunwoo’s mouth drops open slightly and his eyes fall closed for half a second before popping open again, as if he doesn’t want to miss whatever Minhyuk does next.

Minhyuk makes a dramatic show of eating his spaghetti. He stares Hyunwoo down as he twirls it around his fork. He slurps the noodles through his puckered lips. He sauce from the corners of his mouth.

Hyunwoo watches until he breaks. He reaches across the table and swipes his thumb just under Minhyuk’s lower lip, holding eye contact with Minhyuk as he sauce from the digit, and that breaks Minhyuk.

Suddenly, he’s no longer hungry. He drops his fork, pushes his plate away, removes the napkin from his lap, and an eyebrow at Hyunwoo in a silent question. Hyunwoo jerks his head over his shoulder, toward the exit, and Minhyuk nods. Hyunwoo summons their waitress by raising his hand, and they pay for their meals and drinks.

As Minhyuk starts to slide out of the booth, a hand appears in front of his face. Hyunwoo pulls him up from the table, and the now four glasses of wine catch up with Minhyuk all at once. He stumbles and falls into Hyunwoo’s chest… his firm, broad chest. Minhyuk’s hand lands right between Hyunwoo’s pecs, the heel of his palm pressed against the first ripple of Hyunwoo’s abs. , he’s glorious… a perfect specimen of the male form.

Hyunwoo’s arms come up to steady Minhyuk, and it feels more like a hug than anything else. Minhyuk involuntarily curls into Hyunwoo feeling small and protected. He giggles softly as his head falls on Hyunwoo’s shoulder, nuzzling his nose against Hyunwoo’s neck.

Hyunwoo only tightens his arms around Minhyuk for a moment before leaning back and holding him at arm's length. He studies Minhyuk's face, taking in the slightly silly smile as hazy eyes. His eyebrows lift. “Are you okay?” they seem to ask. “Did you drink too much? Do you still want to… ?” Minhyuk takes Hyunwoo’s hand and leads him toward the exit.

Once on the sidewalk, Hyunwoo offers Minhyuk his arm, and Minhyuk links their elbows, holding tight to Hyunwoo as they walk down the street. They walk a few blocks before Hyunwoo stops and looks around like he’s lost. He glances at the street signs on the corner, looks left and right and then behind them. Minhyuk watches in confusion for a moment until he realises Hyunwoo isn’t lost but unsure where Minhyuk wants to go. Minhyuk tugs on Hyunwoo’s arm and points to the right, and they turn the corner, heading toward Minhyuk’s apartment.

Minhyuk guides Hyunwoo by pulling or pushing on his elbow. His apartment isn’t exactly all that close to the restaurant. He’d taken a cab there, but he doesn’t mind walking home if Hyunwoo is with him. Walking with Hyunwoo is nice.

After several turns and one mistake where Minhyuk had pulled Hyunwoo to the right while walking left so that they had ended up smushed together, they finally reach Minhyuk’s building. Hyunwoo looks hesitantly at the entrance, as if he’s not certain he wants to enter, so Minhyuk squeezes his hand and brushes his lips against Hyunwoo’s cheek. He steps up to the door and turns back to Hyunwoo with one eyebrow raised. Hyunwoo takes a small step forward. Minhyuk smiles and holds out his hand in invitation.

Together they walk to the elevator, and Minhyuk presses the button for the seventh floor. The elevator is ancient, practically an antique. It’s actually quicker to take the stairs, and with all the creaking and groaning the machine makes as it slowly lifts them up six floors, Hyunwoo looks worried it might just fall apart and drop them into the basement. Minhyuk pats his shoulder to reassure him that it's safe.

Minhyuk takes a moment to test his theory about Hyunwoo’s biceps, measuring one arm with his hands. Even with how long and slender his fingers are, his thumbs barely overlap. Hyunwoo’s body shakes, and when Minhyuk looks up, his eyes are crinkled, his lips parted as he lets out a breathy laugh. It exposes his teeth, white and straight with an adorable gap between the two front ones. It takes Minhyuk's breath away, so he leans in to steal Hyunwoo's breath with a sweet little peck to his lips.

It's all they have time for as the elevator doors screech open, and they're faced with Minhyuk's apartment door. Completely forgetting that Jooheon will be waiting for a full report on his date, Minhyuk opens the door and pulls Hyunwoo inside.

“There you are. How was- Oh! Hey there, Hyunwoo. Minhyuk, I didn't know you'd bring him home on the first date. Let me just put on some shoes and I'll go spend the night with Kyunie… Give you guys some privacy.”

Jooheon slips his feet into his trainers and grabs a jacket, and then the door is falling shut behind him, leaving Minhyuk alone with Hyunwoo again.

“You know Jooheon?” Hyunwoo looks at his feet. “You’re Mr. Niceandcute.” He gives a small nod of confirmation, a sheepish smile. Hyunwoo’s shoulders are slumped. It makes him look small and insecure. Minhyuk doesn’t like it at all, doesn’t want Hyunwoo to feel small or insecure, wants to show him that he doesn’t have to feel that way.

“You could have just told me, silly,” he says, bending to meet Hyunwoo’s eyes which are still focused on his shoes. “Hey, I’m not mad. I’m not even mad you were late. I really enjoyed dinner and I’d like to get to know you, but we should probably try to communicate better.” Minhyuk laughs, and Hyunwoo laughs, too.

“I was embarrassed about being late. I didn’t know if you’d even still be there when I finally showed up, but I had to take the chance. See, there was this little girl who fell and chipped her tooth, and her mom brought her in right as we were about to head home for the night and asked if we could fix it. They were both crying because she was only six, and her permanent teeth had just come in. She’d already broken one of them. Her mom thought it would ruin her smile forever so I had to fix it, ya know?”

Wow, when Hyunwoo finally started speaking, he just let it all out.

“You’re a dentist?” Minhyuk asks.

Hyunwoo nods. “Pediatric. I like teaching kids how important it is to take care of their teeth.”

Minhyuk giggles. “I see why Jooheon thought we’d be a good match. I’m a Pediatric PA. I love kids.”

This finally makes Hyunwoo lift his head, and Minhyuk sees the crinkles around his eyes and those blinding teeth again. Jooheon was right. Hyunwoo is nice and cute. Minhyuk decides right then and there that he definitely wants something long-term with Hyunwoo. So apparently is off the table for tonight, but they can still... “Cuddle?” Minhyuk asks, a bit too loudly for the empty quiet of the apartment.

Hyunwoo’s eyes widen in surprise, but his brain quickly catches up with Minhyuk’s outburst. He nods again, and Minhyuk tugs his sleeve to lead him to the bedroom.

Minhyuk senses that Hyunwoo is still more comfortable not talking, so he presses his lips together to keep himself quiet and picks at one of the buttons on Hyunwoo’s shirt, silently asking if it’s okay to remove it. Hyunwoo helps him it and shrugs it off his shoulders, and Minhyuk no longer has to worry about keeping himself quiet because he’s completely speechless.

The hints he’d seen and felt of how broad and muscular Hyunwoo’s shoulders might be had not done him justice at all. Hyunwoo must spend every spare minute working out because Minhyuk could easily identify and label every individual group of muscles from Hyunwoo’s hips to his neck. He’s as perfectly built as the acrylic anatomy model Minhyuk had studied in nursing school.

Hyunwoo tugs at Minhyuk's sweater, obviously not wanting to be the only one exposed. Minhyuk quickly pulls it over his head and tosses it aside, and then he reaches out to take those muscles for a test drive. His fingers trail across the ridges of Hyunwoo’s abs, down and then back up, and holy hell! Hyunwoo is just… unreal! Minhyuk can’t believe how lucky he is.

He rotates his hands, fingers curving around Hyunwoo's waist, and Hyunwoo laughs and backs away, grabbing at Minhyuk's hands to stop them from tickling. Minhyuk doesn't fight him. He just lets Hyunwoo regain his control, and then they're standing by the bed, holding hands.

Hyunwoo is looking at Minhyuk. His eyes sparkle in the dim light from the bedside lamp. He takes a step closer and drops one of Minhyuk's hands. For a moment, Minhyuk thinks they might kiss, but Hyunwoo places his hand around the side of Minhyuk’s neck, his thumb gently brushing Minhyuk’s cheekbone. His gaze slowly drifts to the right, toward the bed.

Minhyuk lets out a soft, bubbly giggle and moves to pull the covers down. He crawls under the duvet and reaches out to tug Hyunwoo down to join him. It takes some shuffling for them to both get comfortable, but eventually Minhyuk ends up curled against Hyunwoo, wrapped in his arms. He presses his nose into Hyunwoo’s chest and lets out a happy sigh. He’s cozy and warm and relaxed, and he’s starting to feel a little sleepy.

“Can I stay the night?” Hyunwoo asks.

“You’re just asking now?” Minhyuk teases. “Of course you can stay. I definitely want you to stay.” He yawns and snuggles deeper, just on the verge of drifting off. “But if you sneak out before I wake up,” he mumbles through another yawn, “I’ll hunt you down.”