Changkyun readies himself the best way he knows how: a pink, soft-looking sweater that reaches past his thighs, black skinny jeans, and a biker jacket. He pushes his hair back with gel, fixing it this way and that until he figures out just how he wants it. His latest piercing, a silver eyebrow stud, glitters in the paling light of his dingy bathroom, and he smirks loosely as he takes in his own reflection.

Despite the mirror being cracked and warped and clouded over and about five other things showing off just how it is, his own handsomeness shines through, and he’s beyond proud.

He’s certain his boyfriend will be just as proud when he sees him, too.

Changkyun’s phone buzzes, a timer he’d set before letting him know he’s running perfectly on schedule. He spares only a second more to give himself a final once-over before leaving the cramped bathroom. He distracts himself from his own nerves with a rap verse he’s been trying to perfect for the passed week.

Jaejoon doesn’t much like his underground rapping scene, so he’ll get this coping mechanism out of his system now, before he surprises him. Jaejoon doesn’t exactly know yet that Changkyun is going to surprise him at the restaurant he works at, but Changkyun is certain Jaejoon won’t mind in the slightest.

Even if Jaejoon has never liked surprises before…

I mean, come on. Who wouldn’t want a surprise visit from their boyfriend when they have to work on Valentine’s Day??

Changkyun gets to the restaurant in record time, having to pace the block once to stall for enough time to ensure his boyfriend would be just getting off the clock. He steps into the restaurant with a small sigh, shrugging out of his coat. He looks around, curious. He’s never been here before, at his boyfriend’s behest, but that just makes tonight all the sweeter, right?

Their first Valentine’s Day, and his first time going to surprise Jaejoon at his job. What could be better?

Changkyun nods to the host at the front door, saying he’s there to meet someone. Which, you know, isn’t entirely untrue. He pauses at the mouth of the dining area, eyes sweeping the dimly-lit room. He notes all the sparkling eyes, the slight blushes here or there. His heart swells with a sense of knowing and… this odd feeling of comradery.

Everyone here, sitting with their significant others and in such utter love with each other.

Changkyun used to not see the point of Valentine’s Day, but then he met Jaejoon, and everything just sort of fell into place.

Speaking of whom, Changkyun’s eyes land on a particular head of blonde hair that he’d recognize under any circumstance. He starts forward, a call of his boyfriend’s name on his lips. He’s smiling so  bright, so excited, but then he sees something else that makes him freeze midstep.

Jaejoon. Smiling that beautiful, perfect smile that makes his eyes crinkle… at another man.

Changkyun gulps thickly, watching as Jaejoon shoots a wink at the man he’s facing as he reaches over to this stranger’s arm. Changkyun visibly ripples, storming forward so suddenly he nearly runs into a man with white and blue hair and the expression that of a surprised little rabbit. He mutters a hastened apology without glancing back, his brows furrowed as he strides forward.

Jaejoon doesn’t notice him, it’s the stranger that does. The stranger with sparkling eyes and an innocent smile. He looks over to Changkyun, meeting his gazes for the briefest of moments before flitting away, and then returning to Changkyun’s eyes. There’s recognition there, though whether he knows the man storming towards them or just the anger in his eyes, Changkyun can’t be sure.

Changkyun stops directly beside the table, though it takes Jaejoon a moment despite this to notice his supposed boyfriend. Changkyun clears his throat, crossing his arms over his chest, and Jaejoon pauses midsentence to look over at him. He does a double-take, an anxious chuckle falling from his lips as his eyes grow wide and clearly panicked.

“Ch-Changkyunnie!!” Jaejoon says, standing so quickly his chair teeters from side to side. “What’re you doing here??” Changkyun shifts from foot to foot, frowning so hard it causes his face to ache, though he doesn’t let up.

“I thought you were working,” Changkyun says instead of answering, his brow furrowing. Jaejoon chuckles thickly, nodding as he avoids Changkyun’s gaze.

“I was just on my—”

“You’re not wearing your uniform.”

“Um…” the stranger says, standing as well. “Babe, who is this…?”

“‘ Babe ’???” Changkyun demands, eyes filling with the flames of betrayal. Jaejoon gulps loud and hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing against the pale skin of his neck. Changkyun whirls his gaze towards the stranger, gaze ablaze. “I’m his boyfriend, who are you ???” The stranger blinks, his brow creasing in on itself. An accusatory gaze flicks between Changkyun and Jaejoon, who’s still flapping his jaw soundlessly like a fish flopping on the deck.

“ I’m his boyfriend, who the hell are you ??”

Changkyun scoffs, stepping forward an inch to loom over the stranger, to tell him just who he is and why he’s this man’s worst ing nightmare, but then there’s a hand on his shoulder pulling him back.

“D-Don’t do anything stupid,” a gentle, kind voice tells him in a low whisper. “He’s clearly not worth it.” Changkyun whips around to face whoever’s talking to him, vaguely surprised to see the man he had just bumped into before. Changkyun has half a mind to argue, to say that Jaejoon is worth it, worth anything. Jaejoon has always been the one and is so much better than Changkyun could ever hope to be.

But, then he meets the stranger’s eyes, and all arguments for Jaejoon die in his throat.

Tears start to sting the corners of his eyes, his heart trembling within his chest as it attempts to keep from shattering right then and there. He’s frozen there, in this odd between-place of breaking down and remaining calm and collected. There’s a gentle pull on his sleeve, and he numbly follows, not knowing what else to do. He doesn’t even think he blinks until Jaejoon and this stranger are out of his line of vision.

Changkyun’s led down the sidewalk, hot tears dripping from his eyes. He stubbornly wipes at them, refusing to start breaking down in front of this… who is this guy, anyway? Changkyun looks over to him, vaguely recognizes his determined gaze, his pointed ears. He remembers studying them from behind the counter of the convenience store he works at part-time, counting the piercings as the man would very obviously yet awkwardly flirt with him… He believes he remembers the man calling himself Hoseok when prompted only two weeks prior.

Of course, when Changkyun told him he had a boyfriend, the man stopped flirting, but he’d never stopped coming in.

“I’m s-sorry,” the man says, the light pink dusting over his cheeks informing Changkyun that he’s been caught in staring. Changkyun sniffles a bit and looks to the ground, watching the cracked sidewalk as it disappears beneath him.

“Not your fault,” Changkyun replies, offering a halfhearted shrug. There’s a moment of pause before he adds, “Thanks, I guess… for pulling me out of there. I’d have probably been banned from there and had the cops called on me if you hadn’t… not that I’ll be going back there ever again, anyway.” He spits out the last part like a bit of acid, frowning hard and sullen.

“Thtill,” he insists, “I hate that it happened to you. Y-You theem like a good guy, a-and to think thomeone tr-tr-treated you like that…” He shakes his head angrily, outright pouting. Changkyun studies the expression, somehow finding it cute despite his own sense of disappointment at how his relationship has turned out.

Or, he guesses he should call it an ex-relationship now… There’s no way in hell he’s gonna stay with Jaejoon after all this. Jaejoon always complained about his rapping, about his passions, about his little ticks. He supposes now, vaguely looking back on the passed three months since they’ve been together, that this kind of ending was inevitable…

The realization makes him feel a bit better, if he were to be asked. A lightness fills him, and he finds himself just happy that he didn’t waste too much time on that jerk.

“You can… make it up to me by buying me coffee, Hoseok” Changkyun catches himself saying before he can stop it. The man freezes mid-step, looking over to Changkyun with wide eyes. The light pink deepens to a bright scarlet, and Changkyun finds himself close to smiling again.

It feels strange, the easiness that comes to him over what’s happened tonight. Almost like it was… meant to be, or something.

“Y-You remember my name…?” Hoseok asks, seeming entirely surprised. Changkyun nods, the slightest of smirks coming to him.

“Of course. How could I forget my best customer?”

Hoseok chuckles sheepishly, the sound loose yet hearty as it falls from his lips. He doesn’t seem quite able to meet Changkyun’s gaze, as if embarrassed.

“I could… b-buy you dinner, too,” he says, offering a nervous little grin. Changkyun smiles, too, unable to help it.

“Only if its the greasiest fast-food garbage in the history of man,” Changkyun jokes, though he really doesn’t feel in the mood for anything fancy anymore. Hoseok laughs again, though a bit stronger this time.

“I was going to suggest ramen… I know this great place not too far from here."

“Sounds perfect to me.”

The two share a sparkling gaze under the city lights, remaining only a moment longer before heading off, walking shoulder-to-shoulder. This certainly hadn’t been the night out Changkyun had been expecting, but he’s grateful that, despite Jaejoon not being the prince he’d thought, he’s found someone who could be his knight, instead.