The days leading up to the fifteenth passed by ever so slowly, yet oh so quickly, if that was even possible.

On one hand, Junmyeon was very much looking forward to the date; to see Yifan again, to enjoy a delicious meal not made by himself for once, to just relax and appreciate good food and good company, and time seemed to pass at a snail's pace whenever he thought about it. He was excited, giddy even, and a smile toyed with the corners of his lips whenever he passed the neat stack of clothes waiting on his dresser or the yellow post-it note glued to his bathroom mirror.

"Don't forget the 15th! Wear converse and I'll smack you."

On the other hand, he was a little bit nervous to be quite honest. Sure, he hung out with Yifan all the time; during his lunch break at work, on weekends at either of their places, on random weekdays if they had time and nothing else is going on. Every single day did he wake up to sweet messages, and every so often they'd talk on the phone for anywhere from five minutes to several hours.

However, dates at fancy restaurants with foreign names and an atmosphere he could only describe as expensive and posh, didn't happen often. Fancy dresses, tailored suits, expensive food and immaculate interiors is quite different from takeout, cheap filter coffee and comfortable sweaters. 

Additionally, something was clearly going on this time, and everyone was in on it. Junmyeon, though, could only watch the days tick by.

Luhan showed up every single day leading up to the fifteenth, looking ever so secretive and pleased with himself as he sauntered over to the counter and got his usual order. Sometimes Jongdae was around, and the two shared a look over the counter or from across the room that Junmyeon couldn't decipher to save his life. Even Sehun dropped his usual serious look at the sight of the accountant and promptly slipped into the back to let Junmyeon take the register. 

He managed to catch and remember the last three letters - as well as a question mark - and all he then had was "end?", which wasn't very helpful. How many letters had he missed by then? Was it more than one word? He could only stare at the post-it note taped to the counter and wonder what this was all about. 

Besides standing around and waiting for the fifteenth, wondering what would happen on that day, he took some time to perfect the decorations around the shop and get it properly ready for Christmas. It was mostly to get his mind off the upcoming date and do something productive, but more decorations didn't exactly hurt.

He added some little doodles to the menu to spice things up between tending to customers, hung up some snowflakes he'd seen on his way to Yifan's place, and added some new songs to the Christmas playlist they played. He was kind of sick of listening to the same ten songs on a loop all day, and of Jongdae singing them on repeat while doing the dishes. 

By the fifteenth, he was ready for the smug smiles, secretive glances and unspoken words to stop already so he could finally figure out what was going on. He left work that day with an extra spring in his step, kind of excited and kind of nervous to see what the evening would entail, and he hurried to check the shop before turning off the lights and locking up for the day. 

When he got home he found himself something simple and not too filling to eat, just so he wouldn't starve before he got to his date or be too full. He then took a nice, long shower mostly consisting of mentally preparing himself for whatever might be in store for him later that evening. Everyone was making such a big deal out of it, so he figured it must be really special. Once his hair was beginning to dry he got dressed in the clothes Jongdae had picked out for him; a black turtleneck the younger had brought and some of his own black pants. 

Junmyeon was ready almost half an hour before he had to go, and he spent the remaining time staring absentmindedly at the tv with his phone in his hand. 

Yifan was standing outside when Junmyeon finally pulled up in a parking spot right by the dimly lit restaurant. It was almost ten past seven at that point, and therefore already quite dark outside. If it weren't for the lampposts, Junmyeon would surely have slipped and fallen on his way to the door. 

"Hi," he said as he carefully made his way over to his date. His hands left the pockets of his coat to maintain balance to walk up the steps leading up to the door. Jongdae had let him wear a coat this time, which was nice considering there were sub zero temperatures for sure.

There was also no eyeliner to mess with his eyes. 

"Why are you waiting outside?" 

Yifan's hands were surprisingly warm, and as they all but engulfed his own, he suddenly felt much warmer than before. His lips weren't as warm though. He must have been standing there for a while. 

"I showed up too early apparently," Yifan explained with a shrug, "told me I had to wait outside while they got everything ready." 

Junmyeon casted a glance through the glass door, but there wasn't much to see. There weren't a lot of lights on and what little could see wasn't all that interesting. Just some tables, chairs, plants, the usual one would find in a fancy restaurant like this one. 

"Is everyone here?" he curiously asked, looking back at Yifan who was still holding his hands tightly in his. He wasn't complaining though, because his hands were very warm and nice, and fitted perfectly with his own. 

"Pretty much, from what I've seen at least," Yifan replied. "Jongdae was the one who told me to wait here," Junmyeon couldn't help but laugh, because of course, "Chanyeol was there setting something up with Sehun, and I saw Luhan briefly before I got chased outside." 

Junmyeon hummed in response, back to wondering what was going on in there. He still couldn't see much, which might have meant it was done soon. He hoped so, because Yifan's hands were warm and nice, but the cold was slowly creeping up on him. His feet and face were beginning to feel cold. 

"But, uh..." Junmyeon tore his gaze off the door to look at Yifan, curious as to what he wanted to say. "I've been meaning to ask you something, like I mentioned the other day," the taller went on to say. Junmyeon was reminded of the interrupted moment back at his apartment, and nodded. He'd almost forgotten about that. 

"Yeah."

"Well..." Yifan paused, adjusting his grip on Junmyeon's hands to intertwine their fingers. "I was just wondering, since we've dated for so long now... Do you-."

"There you are."

They both turned to see Jongdae standing in the door, the biggest grin plastered on his face and dressed significantly more formal than he had been earlier that day. He promptly stepped to the side and Yifan had to catch the door before it shut them out again. He held it open long enough for Junmyeon and himself step inside, and it shut with a surprisingly soft click. 

It was much warmer inside, and Junmyeon shrugged off his coat to hang it up on a nearby coat hanger. Yifan did the same and he spent an embarrassingly long time admiring the fit of his black button up and enjoying the whiff of familiar, expensive cologne. 

Other than warm, the place was very fancy. If Junmyeon squinted, he could probably see his own reflection in the polished floor. The furniture was stylish, presumably very expensive, and clearly picked by someone with an eye for interior design. There were quite a few lamps, as well as candles, but the place was still quite dark and he wondered whether they were sitting here or somewhere else. He wouldn't be able to see what he was eating if he had to eat here. 

Jongdae led them both further into the restaurant, going on and on about all the preparations they had made and how much time and planning it had taken, and Junmyeon was feeling a bit more nervous again. There must be something really special going on if it took them that much time to set this up. Dates normally don't take that long to set up, so they? 

"Here you go." He showed them to a table, which Junmyeon realised was the only one that was set. "Have a seat gentlemen," Jongdae said, voice overly polite and formal. He finished with a dramatic gesture for them to sit, and the moment they'd sat down, he disappeared out a door. 

His head poked out a second later. "The food will be ready in a second." With that he was gone again.

They sat in silence for a moment, Junmyeon watching the candle between them and Yifan toying with his phone before setting it aside. Junmyeon caught the shortest glimpse of his own face before the screen went black. 

"What do you think they're going to feed us?" Yifan asked him, folding his hands on the table in front of him. 

"Something fancy?" Junmyeon suggested and the man across the table let out a chuckle. "Yeah, probably."

An odd moment passed before the door Jongdae had disappeared through opened, though it wasn't the student this time. Instead it was Luhan who walked out, a bottle of what he assumed was wine in his hand and an equally big smile on his face. It seemed they'd stopped bothering to hide their anticipation or whatever they might be feeling. 

"Syrah," he explained as he started to pour the wine in each of their glasses. "Will go perfectly with your steak."

"We're having steak?" Junmyeon curiously asked. Steak was good, but steak from such a fancy place like this must be even better. 

"Yeah. Straight from the fields of Japan," Luhan replied as he put the bottle of wine down on the table for them to take when needed. "Well, technically the fridge in the back. It's really good. It smells like heaven back there."

"Really good" turned out to be the understatement of the century. The steak placed in front of him was arguably the greatest thing he'd ever tasted in his entire life, and he worked in a coffee shop full of freshly baked goods and warm coffees. He was fairly certain he just ignored Yifan throughout the entire meal, because he had no recollection of saying anything before finishing his food. 

The wine was perfect with the steak, the steak itself was delicious, and with the candle sitting between them and the dim lights, the atmosphere was cozy and intimate. 

It didn't last too long though, which was inevitable with the lot of them back there. 

"Now," Jongdae exclaimed, passing the waiter who'd just cleared the table in the door, "I think it's time for some entertainment, don't you?"

Junmyeon looked at Yifan and raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected there to be entertainment, though was he really that surprised? Give Jongdae the opportunity to plan a nice date, and he'll bring the entertainment. Yifan only shrugged, clearly just as clueless as to where this was going. 

"If you'll just follow me," the younger said and proceeded to lead them through the restaurant to a secluded little corner Junmyeon hadn't even noticed when coming in. A guitar leaned against a chair which sat right next to a microphone. The student gestured at the two chairs put out for them. 

"No violin?" 

"Next time," Jongdae replied with such confidence and certainty that Junmyeon wouldn't be surprised if he really meant that. Maybe he could actually play the violin and had never said so? 

Either way, Jongdae could definitely play the guitar. He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was, considering he did study music at university and must have learned something at some point, but he just hadn't expected it. He was used to Jongdae singing the same five lines of Christmas songs while washing dishes or humming random tunes to himself while waiting for the bread to finish in the oven, not sitting down and singing an actual song into a microphone while playing the guitar. 

On top of that, it was his favourite song as well. 

When the song eventually came to an end, Jongdae casted a glance somewhere behind them and the biggest grin yet formed on his face. The guitar was soon forgotten about, gently placed aside so he could get up. 

"Seems like I've distracted the two of you enough."

Both Yifan and him turned to look at whatever he was looking at, and suddenly it dawned on him. All the secretive looks, the smug smiles, the unspoken words and secrecy. All of it made sense. 

Plastic cups were lined up on the tables behind them, one scribbled and rewritten and one pushed to the side as if not needed after all. 

"DO YOU WANT TO BE BOYFRIENDS?"

Song in question: Chosen - Måneskin