ix.

Donghae is late—again. He was supposed to meet up with Hyukjae in front of the mall about ten minutes ago, but between suffering his friends’ teasing and choosing an appropriate outfit that would both convey ‘this is a date’ and ‘this is also not a date if you don’t want it to be’, things clearly didn’t go as planned in his initial schedule. Now he’s running frantically through busy city streets and begging time to stop just for a minute or two. Unfortunately, his prayers aren’t heard, and his lateness goes up from only ten minutes to a whole fifteen. He honestly wants to cry a little.

It’d be almost funny, if Donghae wasn’t also genuinely worried that it’s actually the omen of a disaster about to unfold. What if today’s horrible? What if he somehow manages to ruin things so badly that Hyukjae ends up hating him forever?

And yes, maybe he’s being a tad dramatic—but he’s also very stressed out about his not-date with Hyukjae, thanks very much.

Donghae tries to push harder on his legs as he runs through the streets and dodges a few people on his way. He curses under his breath. Today might be his best opportunity to move Hyukjae and his not-relationship forward, and he’s late for it. Ugh, but he’s so useless sometimes. 

Finally, Donghae finds Hyukjae waiting for him by the mall’s main gates. He runs to him, breathless and a little dizzy from overexertion. 

“, I—” Panting, he supports himself heavily on his knees. Stitch pain is digging into his side. “I’m so—… I’m so sorry, I—…” He takes a deep breath then straightens up. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

“Seventeen minutes,” Hyukjae points out, as though it’s a vital piece of information. When Donghae only wheezes in response, he raises an eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed. “Please don’t faint on me.”

“I’ll try my best,” Donghae snorts, rolling his eyes.

Then he looks at Hyukjae properly, and——but today as well, he just looks perfect.

Wind makes his hair fly and stick up in all directions, while his cheeks and the tip of his nose are a bit red from the cold. He’s wearing a thick scarf and a large winter coat, and the lower half of his face is buried into his clothes to stay warm. It makes him look all fluffy and soft and adorable. His eyes, on the other hand, are still as sharp as ever, staring at Donghae like they’re trying to reach deep into his soul.

Hyukjae looks like everything that Donghae could ever have asked for, even in his wildest dreams. The urge to kiss him, sweet and slow, rises inside his chest. He gulps and takes a tiny step back just in case.

“Uh, yeah,” Donghae clears his throat. For a second he scrambles to remember what they’d been talking about in the first place. “I mean, um. I’m sorry.”

“It’s quite alright,” Hyukjae shrugs. Then he frowns, looking a little uncertain. “It’s just I thought that maybe you weren’t coming.”

Alarmed, Donghae steps forward again. Fresh, lemony undertones tease his nostrils as he breathes in Hyukjae’s scent. It smells sweet, but not too sweet—just perfect.

“What—no!” he exclaims. “I was just stupid and forgot to check the time.” He curls their fingers together and squeezes softly. When Hyukjae doesn’t push him away, he reaches with his other hand and brushes his knuckles along his cheek. “I should’ve sent you a text or something to tell you I’d be late. I’m really sorry.” 

Hyukjae blushes, surprised by their sudden proximity, but doesn’t try to move away. Donghae smiles. He runs the tip of his thumb along the fragile skin under Hyukjae’s eye, then traces a random line that leads to the corner of his mouth. His skin feels smooth and slightly cool from the chilly weather; his lips are a little moist, all pink and plump and so very tempting.

, Donghae thinks rather desperately, but he really would like to kiss Hyukjae just about now.

“It’s fine,” Hyukjae mumbles, and Donghae feels his mouth move under his fingers. For the briefest second, Hyukjae leans into his touch, before he grins reluctantly and says, “I guess I should be used to your being late all the time by now, shouldn’t I?”

Instead of feeling annoyed at the jibe, Donghae welcomes it with the familiarity of an inside joke. “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he retorts playfully, which earns him a derisive scoff. He takes a step back, and he doesn’t think that he imagines the slight disappointment on Hyukjae’s face when he has to let him go.

“Let’s go inside,” Donghae says, as thousands of butterflies flutter inside his stomach. “There’s a nice place where they sell crepes and stuff.”

“Oh,” Hyukjae hums interestedly. “I do like crepes.”

“Yeah, I know,” Donghae smirks.

Blinking, Hyukjae tilts his head to the side curiously. “Do you, now?

“Well, yeah,” Donghae shrugs awkwardly and tries to distract Hyukjae by ushering him into the mall. He’d really rather not explain how he asked his mom to call Yunho’s mom, to ask if she had any idea where they could go on their not-date. She replied that she didn’t but that she’d ask her son. Immediately afterwards Yunho called him, gasping, “are you cheating on me?!” Then he burst out laughing while Donghae, embarrassed, shouted at him to stop being weird.

It was the first time that Donghae experienced that much mortification condensed in so little time.

To Hyukjae, Donghae wiggles his eyebrows then nudges his shoulder playfully. “Why? Are you impressed?”

Hyukjae sniffs primly. “‘Impressed’ isn’t quite the word that I would use.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Donghae rolls his eyes fondly. Slipping his fingers through Hyukjae’s, he then pulls him close until they’re almost wrapped around each other. “By the way?” he says into his ear. “Today’s a date.”

“What!” Hyukjae exclaims, flustered. His face heats up into a bright red as he stares at Donghae like he’s gone completely mad. Still, he doesn’t push him away, looking very much like he’s right where he belongs. “No, it certainly is not! What are you saying! You didn’t tell me anything about a date!”

Laughing loudly, Donghae squeezes Hyukjae’s hand. It earns him another pretty blush, and he just knows that Hyukjae is only protesting because of embarrassment. “We’ll see,” he winks at him.

Although it’s a weekday afternoon, the mall is swarmed with late Christmas shoppers and students on vacation. The crowd is dense and so loud that it drowns out the music in the background. After agreeing that they’d take a look around when it’s a bit quieter, they make their way to the tea house that Donghae mentioned. It’s a fancy little place that prides itself for its French concept and its wide selection of pastries. They find a vacant ta