“You can't feel anything, can you?” Kai had been shaving for a half an hour, trying to make his skin as soft as a baby's bottom.

Taemin ran his finger along his upper lip. “Mmm I think it's fine. It's not like you're going to kiss the guy. ... wait... are you?” his mouth opened in shock.

“Of course not!!” Kai objected, perhaps a bit too strongly.

“Kaya! Lookin' good!” Taemin exclaimed as Kai exited his room in the dress they had picked out. Kai blushed. They were lucky Taemin had connections in the fashion world. They had chosen this little black number with a subtle red pattern running from one shoulder down to the hem. It was tight, but not too tight, so his masculine physique wasn't as apparent. It was loose enough to hide his abs, but tight enough to emphasize his fake s. He was still getting used to wearing a bra, not understanding why nobody had come up with a better, more comfortable solution.

He didn't get why he was making such an effort. It was not like he was going to date the guy for reals. And wasn't the point for Suho to discover that he was a guy and be all shocked and embarrassed. Suho was quite obviously straight, and Kai was definitely not a girl. There was only one way this could go, and it wasn't good for anyone to drag it out. Still, for some reason, he wanted to look his best. And it was kind of fun playing dress up with Taemin and his crew.

“I'm thinking red... since love is in the air.” the make-up artist smiled and did her magic. It was probably her best work yet. Kai stared at himself in the mirror, mesmerized. Would Suho realize he wasn't a girl? His stomach fluttered. He didn't really understand what he was feeling, it was a complicated web of emotions. Maybe he should just bail on him, cancel the date and return to his normal life, pretending Kaya had never existed. But that would make all the effort they had made to make him look like this be in vain. No, he was doing this one last time. One way or the other, Suho was going to find out his real identity tonight, and then it would all be over. It would just remain in his heart as an interesting experience, no more and no less.

There was a knock on the door. Kai got a mini heart attack. He wasn't ready. Well, technically he was, he even had his coat on and a very stylish handbag in his hand, but he needed a few minutes more to mentally prepare himself. It had been a long time since he had been on a date. Though it wasn't really him that was going on a date, but Kaya. But Kaya's nervousness felt just like his own. He took a deep breath and decided to think of it as just another performance. He always had jitters before a performance, but once it started, he forgot all about himself and became whomever he was portraying.

“Wow! You look.... astonishing.” Suho's eyes sparkled as he looked him up and down, as if he was taking in every single detail. Kai bit his lower lip, feeling strangely shy. He could feel his cheeks heat up.

“These are for you.” Suho conjured up a big bouquet of flowers that he had been hiding behind his back. Ah, he was so old fashioned. It was as if he was going on a date with a grandpa, completely out of touch with the times. Kai accepted the flowers though, it would have been rude not to. He smelled them, they smelled really good. The lost butterfly in his gut woke up and started fluttering all around again, tickling the inside of his stomach.

“Shall we?” Suho offered him his arm to him out. Kai nearly snorted out loud. This guy was definitely not from this century. Maybe he was a time traveler from the eighteen hundreds. Kai threw the flowers in Taemin's face, who was hiding behind the door, listening in on everything that was happening, and locked arms with Suho. Suho's arm was sturdier than he had expected. He clearly worked out. Even though he was not very tall, he had this subtly manly vibe about him, like he knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to go after it.

The elevator ride down was excruciating. Neither one of them knew what to say. They exchanged furtive looks and chuckled awkwardly. He was hyper aware of how close they were standing. Even though they were arm in arm, Kai tried not to let their arms touch too much. He convinced himself that it was because he didn't want Suho to feel how muscular his arm was, but his gut could tell that wasn't the whole truth. Both of them sighed with relief when the doors opened, freeing them from this most awkward of prisons.

Suho led them to his car, which was the plainest type of flashy. It was clearly an expensive car, but it was very conservative and practical. And there was not a single spot or blemish on it. Suho opened the door for him, and he slid inside. The inside was just as tidy as the outside. That guy had a problem. He kind of reminded him of a character from a drama, rich, uptight and overly organized.

The car ride wasn't much less painful than the elevator, the conversation wasn't exactly flowing. Suho almost looked nervous. He was unnaturally focused on driving, as if he was a driving instructor doing a demonstration, with the ten to two grip, giving signals within the proper time, changing lanes in an orderly fashion, and even his parking was textbook, all wheels well within the marked lines of the parking space. Kai was starting to fear that this night would be a long one.

“Just a moment.” Suho told him and jumped out of the car. Where was he going? Was he going to leave him here, in the parking lot? He was starting to feel a bit upset, when the door on his side popped open. It was Suho, holding out his hand to help him out of the car. Man, this guy! He was such a dork. He shyly gave him his hand, since it would have been weird not to. It felt warm. Suho even put his other hand below the top of the car to make sure Kai didn't hit his head on the way out. He really thought of everything. But it wasn't like he was made of glass. He was actually capable of getting out of a car without severe injuries. Suho smiled softly and put Kai's hand around his arm again, and closed the door. Okay, he did feel a little bit like a princess, Suho hadn't been lying about that. It didn't completely either.

“This way, sir” the waiter escorted them to a table by the window.

“Wow. What a view!” Kai exclaimed without planning to, he was so taken aback. They were at a top floor restaurant in a recently built skyscraper, one of the really tall ones. It felt like the city went on forever. The lights were really pretty. Suho looked really pleased by his reaction, pulling out the chair for him. Always the gentleman. Maybe he could get used to this.

After helping him adjust his seat, Suho sat down opposite him. He was practically beaming. That silly idiot. He had no clue. Kai wondered what to do about his voice, since he couldn't really keep up a high pitch squeak for an entire evening, so he decided just to go with a softer version of his own voice. He picked up the menu, but Suho shook his head.

“I've already ordered.” he grinned, his eyes full of excitement.

“Without asking me what I wanted? I could be allergic...” Kai objected, shocked. Was this what it was like to be a girl, everyone making decisions for you and treating you like a complete invalid that had to be taken care of.

“Oh! No! What are you allergic to? I'll go tell the chef right away!” Suho looked really worried.

“I didn't say I WAS allergic, just that I could have been...” he avoided eye contact, realizing he might have overreacted just a tiny little bit.

“Phew, oh, you scared me there... the last thing I wanted to do was poison you. I just thought... I wanted to order something special for you... something that's not even on the menu... don't worry, if there's something you don't like, you don't have to eat it. And if there's nothing you like, you can order whatever you want.” Suho smiled encouragingly. He had a nice smile. Kai tried to hold on to that feeling of annoyance, but it was melting away too quickly.

“So, ehm.. what do you do for a living?” Kai asked, mainly to change the subject, but then he realized that he knew almost nothing about Suho, except for his name and that he obviously had money.

“Mm, let's just say... a CEO-type thing. It's boring.” Suho shrugged.

“Have you always wanted to be a CEO?” Kai found himself asking. He reminded himself not to get comfortable. This wasn't his seat. This wasn't his date. Yet it felt kind of like it was.

“Hmm, I've never really thought about that, it was always just what I was supposed to do, ever since I was born.” Suho looked slightly perplexed, like this was the first time he was contemplating the question. “What about you? When did you decide to become a ballet dancer?”.

“When I first saw the Nutcracker on TV one Christmas, I was five...” Kai got all dreamy eyed just thinking about it. “It's still my dream to perform it on TV some day, for other kids to see.” he grinned, embarrassed.

“You will.” Suho said like it had already been decided. “If you work hard enough.” he added, ruining the good feeling that was brewing in Kai's chest. He had started to like him just a smidge since he seemed to have so much faith in him, but.. if he worked hard enough? Was he saying he was lacking in some way now? Or did he think he was slacking off? He was the hardest worker in the whole dance academy! Ugh, as if Suho knew anything about what it took to be a good dancer. He crossed his arms.

“So did you start lessons right then and there?” Suho asked like he had no clue how rude he had been.

“Something like that...” he didn't want to tell that rich, entitled A-hole that his parents hadn't had money to pay for classes, so he had stood outside and watched through the window, copying the teacher's movements as best he could.

“Oh! What's that?” Suho suddenly said in a super awkward and unnatural way, like he was trying to be nonchalant but ended up being everything but. Not in the mood, Kai very reluctantly looked out the window. His jaw fell instantly to the floor. Forgetting all about the one-sided quarrel he had had with Suho in his head, he stared out the window, not believing his own eyes. The building across from them had lit up with red lights, but they weren't any ordinary lights. In huge letters, they spelled out:

'Kaya ♥'