It was rather late when Jinyoung opened his eyes in the morning. He didn’t set up his alarm for the past couple of days. He went to bed late the night before as he was anticipating his meeting with prof. Kim’s daughter. He wasn’t actually sure how he was gonna handle the day, he looked up on the internet on what to do when you met a girl for the first time. Wasn’t satisfied, he watched drama and became grumpy about how silly the sample situations were. Obviously, he couldn’t act all bad boy, he didn’t know the first thing about being one.  

He fell asleep while in the middle of playing all possible scenarios in his head. The meeting could go well, but it would mean that they’re gonna have to meet again. He didn’t want that, there were just too much stuff to go through before a single meeting he wanted to avoid. It could also go wrong, like she got all bored and decided to flee the scene even before they decided to split the bill. In that case, he couldn’t save his money but at least he could save his energy and his secret of being gay.

Apparently by the moment he brushed his teeth, he couldn’t decide on which style he’d like to go with. So he gathered his gym stuff and put them into the trunk of his car. That was really a random thought but the monkey sticker on his mirror reminded him of his friend, Jackson, who had been badgering him to come to his gym. Jinyoung had never even once set foot there, but a little exercise could surely keep his mind out of his troubling date.

So after a ten minute drive, Jinyoung pulled over in what seemed to be his destination. His friend was really serious about this business looking at how crowded this place was. One of the employees approached him when he slid through the door. She was an athletic woman, her abs practically showing off under the sport bra she was wearing. He remembered what he had under his shirt and decided to keep that to himself for the time being. For the rest of his life if he could.

“Hello there, are you here for the membership?”

“Ah no sorry, I am here for the Jackson Wang.”

“Oh do you have appointment, sir? I notice you’re not here for a meeting?”

“Could you just get him? I'm his friend. I called him but he didn’t answer.”

“Very well then, if you could just wait on the counter over here sir?”

She was leading them to the office where other staffs were busy either talking about the offered program or listening to their potential members’ health problem. Jinyoung took a seat on the nearest chair which was empty while the woman got out to find his friend. He looked around the office and noticed Jackson’s half body everywhere. That narcissistic body builder didn’t even bother to pay other people to become an ambassador for his gym.

“Would you like to register, sir?”

A personal trainer sat down on the other side of the table, just coming back from his break apparently.

“Ah no, I’m here for a friend.”

“Park ing Jinyoung is finally in my ing gym!”

That cheerful voice couldn’t be mistaken coming from anyone other than Jackson Wang, his friend from under graduate program. He looked wow, his muscle was obvious even with a shirt on. And he was strong too by the force he used when he pulled Jinyoung into a hug.

“Are you here for trying out my stuff? Why don’t you explain what you need first to my personal trainer so we can get it all right?”

“No, please Jackson. I’m just here for the treadmill if I may.”

“Oh, sure my friend. Follow me.”

Jackson didn’t let go of his shoulder which made him a little uncomfortable, but hey it was Jackson. What could he expect?

“You sure you don’t wanna build muscle instead, Jinyoung? I mean look at this soft arm.”

“Don’t squish it!”

“Haha, alright fine. But look at mine.”

He didn’t have to take off his shirt, but he did anyway. Here we go, Hulk Wang. His abs were toned Jinyoung could actually count the sections. His chest was defined, it twitched as Jackson started to flex. And those arms, the muscle literally tensed. You don’t get that shape without spending all of your time in the gym and Jinyoung had no intention to do that.

“Yeah that’s good. I see that a lot in underwear promotion poster. Now where is the treadmill?”

“You’re really hard to impress, aren’t you?”

Jackson put his shirt back on, which Jinyoung appreciated and took him to the furthest side of the room, right in front of the large window. He liked the view, it almost felt like he was outside. He paid attention to Jackson’s instruction on how to use the machine. He got on it and started easy while his friend was watching him carefully. He increased the speed gradually to ignore Jackson’s eyes. His heart rate increased as the stomps of his feet became faster. His started to feel dizzy as he could barely breathe. It was too much he had to stop. So he turned the machine off which caused an accident he didn’t expect. For all he knew, he was on the floor, his face hot. Jackson helped him to sit down, of course he said a lot of words but he couldn’t make out any of them.

“Can you hear me? Jinyoung?’

“I’m fine.” Jinyoung sat up and glaring fiercely at the machine. “Why did it do that?”

“You need to decrease the speed step by step. It’s like a car, dude. You don’t just suddenly step on the break when you’re driving fast. Gee, your nose’s bleeding.”

“What?!”

Jackson stuffed his face with his towel and forced him to look up while he ran to grab the first aid kit. Jinyoung’s morning was already eventful, thanks to his ignorance.

Jackson handed him a bottle of water he grabbed from the nearest refrigerator.

“It’s not first aid kit.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have it, do you?”

“I do…it’s just not here.” Jackson looked away in guilt, “Oh come on, we never have accident before. Who would’ve thought you’ll fall after 3 minute jogging?”

“That was only 3 minutes?!” Jinyoung went flustered. He got embarrassed realizing he was that weak. “The water’s not cold at all.”

“Why would you want cold water? That’s unhealthy.”

“To stop the bleeding, you moron.”

Jackson looked offended, but he knew his friend didn’t mean it. So he sat down next to him, watching his face curiously. “So what is it, Jinyoung?”

Jinyoung took a glance at him, “What’s what?”

 “Are you seeing someone?”

“What?”

“You’ve always been satisfied with your slimy body no matter what I tell you.  Now you’re here wanting to work out. There must’ve been someone, huh? Tell me who this is.”

“There’s no one. And my body is not slimy.”

Jinyoung stood up to turn on the treadmill again. He wondered if it was that weird for a person like him to hit the gym. He was also a human whose body had to be moved once in a while. It’s perfectly normal, his friend didn’t have to make big deal about that.

“It’s okay if you don’t wanna tell me. But what about we go for a drink this evening? We haven’t really caught up, Jinyoung please.”

“I know what you’ve been up to, I follow your Instagram.”

“That’s right, I just posted a video of you running on my insta story.”

“You did what? Don’t tell me a video when I pathetically fell down the treadmill?” Jinyoung tried his best to speak while his feet were still busy running. 

“Don’t glare at me! Do you know how scary you become when you do that? Look I got goosebumps.”

“How much did you record?”

“How much do you think there is?! Relax, it’s just 15 seconds when you looked so focus running. You may not look that athletic but your face was enough to make up for that. Don’t worry, there’s no way I’d embarrass my own friend.”

“Thank you.”

“So a drink this evening?” Jackson just winked at him.

“I can’t. I have an appointment.”

His friend frowned and started to cling onto the edge of the treadmill. “Why do you always reject me? It’s more fun to eat with me I promise. I’ll treat you.”

“I seriously can’t, Jackson. There’s a girl I have to meet.”

“A girl? Whaaaat?!” he was literally squealing. “Your girlfriend, huh?”

“Not, she’s not even  my friend. It’s more like a blind date.”

“How excitiiiing! You need to introduce me to her later.”

“Why?”

“I’m sending you text every day, tell me if I’m not your closest friend.”

“I don’t text you back each day.”

“Let’s try one more time, am I not your closest friend?”

Jinyoung was used to the treadmill that he could calmly put on his earphone. He couldn’t contain his smile though. Jackson was a cute bulldog who was hard to resist. “Fine. You’re my closest friend. Now go away.”

Jackson jumped excitedly. “Alright, my dear friend. Exercise all you want for this girl. I’ll leave you to it. If you end up wanting to make membership, tell me first. I’ll assign you to the most special package.”

“The free one, I hope?”

Jackson put that cheerful clown face. “There’s no way dude.” He left after laughing to himself. So Jinyoung got back on the running, laughing to the thought if he ever would do this for a girl.

…

He was late, he was late. Why in the hell did he decide to take a nap? exercise, draining all of his energy when he needed it the most. Jinyoung cursed himself while changing to his outfits. He was tumbling as he tried to pick a shirt to go with his pants. He didn’t wanna appear too casual, blind date was a date after all. But going out with a jacket in this weather made him look like an idiot.

Just what was that on his forehead? He got pimple. Good going Park Jinyoung. Now he couldn’t style up his hair. He prayed that bangs would still fit him. Luckily his nose looked not as red as before. If there was anything he was thankful to his father, it would be the gene which made him look good without too much effort. Jinyoung was confident with how he looked, he had mirror.

He dashed to his yard and drove away. Going out when everybody in the city did was not a good option. He was stuck in the traffic which made 10 minute drive stretched to half an hour. Part of him was dying to go back home and spend his night watching movies but constant text from his father didn’t agree with his wish. He had copied paste the same content for the twelfth time saying he was still on his way.

The bell rang as Jinyoung pushed the front door of the café where he was supposed to meet Jisoo. He didn’t know how the girl looked like so he scrolled up his chat with his father to find the attachment he once skipped. He looked around to look for any girl who picked up a call, but there wasn't any. Maybe Jisoo was not even here yet. The traffic was bad anyway.

“Park Jinyoung?”

Jinyoung had almost lost grip on his phone out of surprise. He turned to his side to find a short girl smiling at him. The girl showed her phone screen with his name in it.

“Kim Jisoo?”

“I am! Sorry I was running late because of the traffic. But then I saw you rushing from your car. It was quite funny when you almost tripped. Haha.”

The girl was pretty of course, much prettier than any girl he knew. But boy, will she ever shut up? From the moment they picked up their table, she didn’t stop talking. It was as if she was being interviewed for her biography and Jinyoung didn’t even need to ask the questions. The answers streaming down like a river. She ordered drink for the both of them without even asking him. Jinyoung had to ask them to switch drink as he actually preferred the iced latte Jisoo initially ordered for herself.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh it’s okay. It was my fault, most guys liked americano. Guess you’re not most guys.”

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“I should’ve known, you’re the genius young doctor after all. My father went on and on about you I don’t think there’s anything about you I still need to learn.”

“No secret, I’m an open book.”

Jisoo giggled, “No one is really an open book. You may not who you show people.’

Jinyoung smiled at her, didn’t want to talk about it further. “So how’s it like studying abroad?”

“Oh it is wonderful,…”

The girl bit on it rather easily. She was after all her father’s daughter, very self-centered and narcissistic. The more she went on, Jinyoung found it harder to focus. If his father gave him a quiz about her, he’s surely gonna fail it.

Right at that moment, the bell rang again but the sound didn’t end. It was followed by a cheerful laughter that attracted Jinyoung’s attention. Like in slow motion, the laughing Mark, who just made his entrance, shifted his face to his direction and their eyes met. That laughter changed to the most delightful smile Jinyoung had ever seen. That face couldn’t possibly get even prettier. Had those cheekbones been that high? he had to know how many children were born when Mark was. He thought the number would be small given that God must had spent more time carving Mark’s face.

Those eyes shifted and Jinyoung could tell Mark was glancing at Jisoo before their eyes met again. Shorter this time as he was dragged by his friends to a table for bigger group. Jinyoung watched how the guy shoved his friend so he could sit at the chair from where he could still be seen effortlessly by Jinyoung. Or that’s what he’d like to think.

“So my father thought it’d be best if I come back here after I finished my study.”

Right, Jinyoung was in the middle of conversation and had to say something, “And what is your thought on that?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Jinyoung was in trouble, was that a trick question? Did she find out he wasn't paying attention?

“I was already adjusted to the situation in LA, I could no longer handle Seoul. Can you imagine how suffocating it is for me to be here again? Not to mention having a very controlling father like mine around.”

“Tell me about that. I also have one.”

“I know right! He told me to do this and that for him…”

Jisoo was still continuing her tale while Jinyoung took a risk to look at Mark’s direction again. His heart skipped a beat when he found out the other guy was already looking at him. Was he possibly watching him? Jinyoung felt blood rushing to his cheek when those eyes hardly left his despite being in a conversation with his friends. He on the contrary had to look away so he could breathe. But like a magnet, he was attracted to check Mark out again. He felt silly that this small thing tickled the inside of his stomach. He couldn’t help the happiness which crept up, moving the muscle in his face that he involuntarily smiled. He must’ve looked like an idiot by now, he could tell by how amused Mark’s face had become.

“I’m gonna go order then!” Mark said, louder than he needed to be.

Jinyoung looked down on his own drink. He still had his cup half full but he through the straw anyway. The cold liquid quickly froze his brain he instantly felt dizzy.

“I’m gonna refill my iced latte, do you need anything?” he asked Jisoo.

The girl looked at him, amused. “I’m okay, my cup is still full. Were you that thirsty?”

Jinyoung laughed awkwardly, “Yeah I like to be well-hydrated.”

It was a silly excuse, but Jisoo bought it anyway. He tried to contain his smile until he turned his back completely from the girl, hoping she didn’t notice how fast he did that. He waltzed up the room in a manner as if he was walking right down the altar with Mark handsomely waiting for him. If Jinyoung ever imagined how his perfect wedding would be, he wouldn’t care about when and where but Mark being his groom was not negotiable.

“Evening, Mr. Park,” Mark said as Jinyoung reached the counter.

“Hey, Mark. Hanging out with your friends?” he signaled to his student’s table. Those youngsters were crazily blowing up a tissue paper.

“Not the sight I am proud of. But yes, they’re my friends. I notice you come with a date?” Mark signaled to Jisoo who was busy looking at her phone.

“Well, yes. I’m here for a blind date.”

He didn’t realize why he mentioned the blind date at all. He could’ve said Jisoo was a friend so Mark wouldn’t think he was about to be taken.

“She’s pretty.”

“Not the prettiest in the room at the moment.”

Mark watched him, studying him in silence. Jinyoung knew his ears had turned red but he could do nothing about that. He made himself busy with reading over the menu.

“You can say that again. You know you owe me a drink, Mr. Park?”

He looked up and fell into Mark’s gaze. “I do, don’t I? Can I help you with your bill?”

Mark laughed like a hyena. “No, this is a joined bill with my friends. But we can always go somewhere. I heard there’s a nice noodle house around here.”

Jinyoung held his breath as Mark moved closer. The guy’s body was slightly smaller than him, yet he didn’t fail to intimidate.

“I think I said a drink, not a dinner.”

That laughter again, would Jinyoung ever get enough of that?

“What should I do? You’re having your second cup of coffee already.”

“What? Tonight you mean?”

Mark looked at Jisoo’s direction and stepped even closer, entering Jinyoung’s personal space. He stood on his toes and whispered, “It seems like you need a change of date, Mr. Park. I can help you with that.”

Was he asking him out? Did he know he was gay? Was he one too? A date with a gay Mark was the most intriguing idea Jinyoung had ever heard that day. But running away with a prince charming in the middle of a date with a princess would add to the thoughtless thing he did today. It would not only make Jisoo mad, but also the relationship between their family would be at stake.

“I don’t think I can, Mark.”

Mark stared into his eyes for a good 5 seconds. Those eyes was studying him so handsomely before he smirked. Jinyoung hated when Mark stepped back as the employee handed his drinks one by one.

“If you’re sure, Mr. Park. But if you change your mind, look at my direction 3 times. That’s what it takes for me to save you from that horrible date.”

That wasn’t fair. Jinyoung would want to look at him more, it shouldn't be a code or anything. But he didn’t manage to say that as the staff handed him his cup and Mark was already out of hearing distance. So he went back to his table silently.

“That was quite long,” Jisoo asked. Those doe eyes stared at him curiously.

Without him realizing it, Jinyoung looked at Mark to think of an acceptable answer. “It’s the line. The customer before me ordered a lot of drinks.”

Jisoo was studying him, she had that smile that was rather ambiguous. “That’s okay, I get it. Now have a seat, how long do you plan to stand like that?”

Right, he was still standing awkwardly like a child caught red handed stealing some candy.

“So tell me about you, Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung took another glance at Mark, trying to come up with an answer to Jisoo’s question. He always thought that kind of question was too general. It could lead to anything and he hated to give information on things he considered personal, but he had to nail the answer anyway. “I’m 26. I’m a junior lecturer in a university. I’m the only son in my family. I like to watch movies. I think that’s it.”

“Seriously? What about you tell me what you usually do for fun?”

“I uh… I would just spend my day at home, watching movies.”

“For real? Spending too much time at home is very nerdy, you need to socialize to get connection with people. If you’re always inside, the best friend you could get is a stuff animal and a bunch of books. Aren’t I right? Don’t tell me you never go out.”

“I do of course. But I don’t like it that much.”

“Ever been to a club?”

“I go once in a while,” he had to revise to once in a lifetime. He went with Jackson when the guy celebrated his bachelor degree. It was okay at first, Jinyoung liked the drinks but then he ended up smoking outside waiting for Jackson to remember he was bringing him. For the record, his friend was too drunk to even remember his own name. Jinyoung had to take a cab home. The public transportation did not feel nice, he was suffocated by what smelled like wet shoes and vomit. From that moment, he always drove his own car.

“Great, clubs are my favorite place to hang out. I like to dance and to get drunk. And who knows you’ll hook up with a hot guy? I actually prefer hooking up than dating. Exes are the worst. How many exes do you have?”

There she went again, asking follow up question to Jinyoung’s untruthful answer. He looked at Mark’s direction. “I have some.”

He was lying, it didn’t feel good when he lied. But it would be weird for someone his age, not to have a single ex.

“Yeah? tell me the craziest thing your ex had done in front of you. For me, my ex once showed off his in the cafeteria in order to get my attention back. That was embarrassing, everybody was looking at me. What about you?”

“What?”

“Excuse me sir, your car blocked my way out. Can you move it a little?”

Jinyoung looked up and found Mark staring down at him. “What?”

“The black Audi is yours, isn’t it? I was about to leave but your car was in the way.”

“Yeah sure. Ah, excuse me Jisoo.”

The girl was just smiling at him when he absentmindedly followed Mark out.

“Mark, what are you doing?”

“I’m saving you.”

“What?”

Mark took his hand as soon as they stepped out of the building.

“I told you, 3 times looking at me is the code of saving you.”

“I didn’t do that intentionally.”

“Jinyoung, you didn’t enjoy the date. That’s enough of a reason for me.”

Mark gazed down at their joined hands. Jinyoung let it go immediately. “I’m sorry.”

“Why? I was the one holding it.”

In a flash, Mark put on a helmet on Jinyoung’s head.

“What is it?”

The other guy didn’t bother to look at him, instead he started his Kawasaki. “That’s a helmet, Jinyoung. Now hop on.”

His mother once told him not to go anywhere with strangers. Mark whom he just met twice was practically fell into that category. But like being bewitched, Jinyoung climbed the passenger seat behind the other guy without asking where they're going or why. During that moment, Jinyoung could hardly think straight. He was enjoying the sound of the machine. So masculine and bold. He didn’t like the seat though; it was too small for his and he had to arch his back a little. He wasn’t even sure where he could hold onto. But Mark’s hand reached out and took his wandering hands. He was pulled that now he was practically hugging Mark from behind and he felt  strangely comfortable. So that was how people rode a bike like this. The closest proximity possible to Mark was totally Jinyoung’s style. He looked ridiculous by the reflection from Mark’s helmet, but he couldn’t care less. He could smell Mark’s perfume from his neck as the sport bike rode out of the parking lot. He really had to ask later.

They rode away, Jinyoung looked back and watched as the buildings ran away from them. If before, he had a tiny thought about how bad this idea was and how rude he was being to Jisoo, now he regretted nothing. He could literally trade all his asset to be in his position right now; riding with Mark to the setting sun, leaving the clueless girl behind. He was happy so that he couldn’t contain his smile. He looked ahead, where he found Mark from the rear mirror was smirking too.

The guy accelerated when they were no longer in the main street. His ped jacket was flapping beneath Jinyoung’s hand as they rode to the quieter road. Jinyoung held Mark’s body tighter as he felt like his chest was going to burst in a good way. All his worries, things that pressured him flew away with the wind. He felt weightless and all he wanted to do was screaming it out loud.

Mark was laughing in front of him. “Wuhuhuhuuuuu!!!”