The date started out relatively awkward with conversation floating between their careers, hobbies, and brief backgrounds. It felt more like a job interview than a date to say the least. Seonghwa was one question away from asking Hongjoong whether he was eligible to travel abroad.

“This is so awkward.” Seonghwa finally blurted out, unable to take one more second of the boring conversation.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Hongjoong said, looking apologetic but not surprised or offended. Seonghwa was glad Hongjoong felt the weirdness too.

“I know this is a blind date, but it isn’t an arranged marriage meeting or a job interview. No one is pressurising us to throw out our most impressive achievements. This restaurant is so nice and the food is amazing, so maybe let’s just talk like normal people and just enjoy ourselves no matter the outcome?” Seonghwa pleaded.

“I suppose it’s enough punishment that we are two young adults, desperate for love and in the middle of a blind date. Let’s try our best to actually have fun.”

Conversation slowly improved from that point until it eventually started to flow smoothly without any awkward pauses. Topics of conversation bounced around the same subjects as before, but with a lighter approach this time, sharing their life experiences in form of short stories. By the time they ate dessert; they were laughing and talking over each other, both of them eager to share another story. Talking about Hongjoong’s work as a claims assessor no longer felt like a death sentence because he added humour to sharing his experiences with clients.

Seonghwa also shared a few funny stories about being a small time script writer.

With each story that tumbled out of Seonghwa’s mouth, Hongjoong felt himself falling for Seonghwa; and he was very certain the warm smile on Seonghwa’s face, the extra twinkle in his eyes and way he kept brushing shoulders with Hongjoong as they took a walk after dinner were all signs that Seonghwa felt the same way.

After the restaurant, they went to an ice cream place where they discovered they had the same taste in frozen desserts; and then ended the evening taking a walk along the broad walk near the Han River.

That’s why it came as quite the shock for Hongjoong when at the end of the evening, Seonghwa refused to go on a second date because he felt they were mismatched.

“Mismatched? Why?” Hongjoong asked

“You are a little too short for me.” Seonghwa replied with a facial expression that showed how pained he felt about what he was saying.

Hongjoong gaped at Seonghwa, failing to summon the appropriate words to express his shock. Even when he tried to speak all that came out was, “what?”

“Please don’t take it personally.” Seonghwa pleaded as sincerely as he could in hopes of cajoling Hongjoong.

“Is that some excuse not to go out with me again because if it is you can just be honest and tell me you don’t like me.”

The hurt in Hongjoong’s soft brown eyes tore at Seonghwa insides.

“It’s not an excuse. I really like you and I had fun tonight, but the truth is I prefer taller men. That’s the number 1 item on my list of desired qualities.” Seonghwa’s shoulders rose and fell helplessly.

Hongjoong’s frown only deepened, “I don’t get it. Have you had a bad experience when you dated someone shorter than you are?” 

“no.” Seonghwa quickly dismissed, “what I’m saying is that I’m only romantically attracted to taller men.”

Hongjoong blinked, “Is this a joke?” his voice was high with shock.

“No it isn’t. I’m sorry, Hongjoong, but you and I have to end things here. If you are willing, we can exchange numbers and maybe just hang out as friends some time.”

**************

Hongjoong proved harder to get rid of than Seonghwa had anticipated. in an effort to convince Seonghwa that his reason for rejecting Hongjoong was silly, Hongjoong continued calling Seonghwa, texting him and they even met up a few times to discuss the issue though those moments felt a lot more like fun dates than anything else in Seonghwa’s opinion. Romantic diners, amusement parks and movie cinemas weren’t exactly ideal for a serious conversation. It could all be helped if Seonghwa would just say no once and for all, but the more time he spent with Hongjoong the harder it became to walk away. At the same time Seonghwa couldn’t simply just toss out his preference for tall men.

Unable to make a choice on his own, Seonghwa turned to his friends for advice. He had been sharing everything with them in the group chat up to that point, but it was time to talk face-to-face.

 After work on a Monday, he invited his best friends Jooheon and Chankyun to dinner at a fish bar in town. They all ordered and the kind waiter went away.

Seonghwa clasped his hands at the table and looked at the couple sitting across him, “why do I always have to buy the two of you food whenever I need your advice on something?”

Wearing his typical unapologetic facial expression, Changkyun replied, “Because you need to buy our time and ears.”

“Wow, I have such great friends?” Seonghwa drawled sarcastically as he reached for his glass of water and took a sip.

“There is nothing particularly pleasant about listening to you.” Changkyun shrugged nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just roasted his good friend.

A snickering Jooheon’s arm went around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Chankyunie is a bit mean, but I agree it listening to you complain.”

Seonghwa snorted at them both and pouted, “I’m the one who always has to third wheel when hanging out with my friends, so let’s not compare pain.”

“What do you need to talk to us about anyway?” Jooheon asked, reaching for his own water.

Seonghwa set his glass back down and sat up eager to talk about Hongjoong with his friends, “Things are going so well with Hongjoong. Entirely well in fact.” Seonghwa ended on a deeply drawn sigh.

“Then scratch the height thing and just officially date him.” Changkyun offered with another shrug, as if it was the easiest thing to do.

“You don’t understand guys. You two don’t seem to have any such challenges. You are exactly each other’s wet dream.”

Jooheon laughed, “Every relationship is give and take, Hwa. at first Changkyunie and I had our issues with kissing….”

“He hates tongue. I love it.”

“Exactly and now we’ve found a sweet middle.”

“Which is?” Seonghwa had to momentarily give up attention himself and ask since his mind failed to figure out a compromise in that situation.

“tongue when are having and no tongue outside the bedroom.” Changkyun explained simply.

“Ew!” Seonghwa cringed, nose wrinkled in disgust. “Guys, I still have to eat dinner.”

The couple thoroughly laughed, enjoying his misery. Bastards! 

“The point is” Jooheon adopted a serious tone now, “we found a way because we care about each other too much to let go of what we share over something so minute.”

Changkyun nodded, agreeing with his boyfriend. “Do you like Hongjoong?”

“We get along great. I brought him here just the other day and it was great. Hongjoong is a glutton by the way. He totally ate three servings and somehow managed to steal my extra tuna roll when I looked away.” Seonghwa was neither aware of how dreamy his voice got on the fond memory nor the small fond smile tugging at his lips as he told it. 

The couple across him exchanged a knowing look and shook their heads, agreeing that Seonghwa was already a goner.

“See? So what if he is a little shorter than you?” Jooheon asked, pulling Seonghwa from his reminiscing.

“But I want someone taller to cuddle me and spoon with.” he whined

“That stuff isn’t all that happens in a relationship.”

“That’s also true.” Seonghwa finally conceded,  shoulders hunched in defeat.

“A great connection and true love is hard to find. It would be completely short-sighted of you to ignore all that just because the guy’s height doesnt match your preference.” Changkyun pointed out.

“Besides you two haven’t done much yet.” Jooheon gave a greasy smirk and winked, “you could be pleasantly surprised by what other things he can do. Things that can help you toss the height thing right out the window.”

Seonghwa’s cheeks crimsoned at the thought of kissing Hongjoong among other cheesy couple stuff. So far they’d only held hands and given each other pecks on the cheek.

As right as his friends were, Seonghwa still needed a third opinion and who better than his younger brother?

*************

“Okay repeat this to me, and this time just the facts.” Jaehyun said, a small smile playing on his lips.

Hongjoong was about 30 minutes early for their book club meeting, but the coffee table already had refreshments and snack laid out thanks to Taeyong’s great organising skills. Among the 7 members of the book club, Taeyong’s apartment was selected as their meeting spot for that reason.

Hongjoong purposely arrived early to get a chance to talk to his two best friends about Seonghwa before the rest of the members arrived. Jaehyun and Taeyong were one of those couples that had been together since forever and Hongjoong really admired their relationship, thinking he could learn a lot from them.

Slower this time, He repeated as he sat down across from his friends in the living area, “Seonghwa won’t date me because he feels I’m too short for him.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Jaehyun asked, then exchanged a surprised look with his boyfriend

“Of course I’m serious. I finally found someone with a voice that gives me shivers and he can’t date me because I’m too short.” Hongjoong pouts

“Shivers?” Taeyong chuckled, getting enthusiastic unexpectedly. “what’s it like?”

Hongjoong sighed dreamily. “oh my God, it sounds like honey. Deep and y.”

“Wow. I can imagine.” Taeyong made a short pause. “It’s not like you don’t have other good qualities. Certainly this Seonghwa guys likes other stuff about you?!”

Hongjoong lifted his legs onto the couch, folding them at the knees and getting comfortable. “He says he is just more attracted to tall guys.”

“But that’s ridiculous.” Jaehyun began as he casually slid an arm around Taeyong’s shoulders, “I’ve dated plenty of guys that didn’t match my preferences in terms of physical appearance, and it went well.”

“Wait!” Taeyong interrupted, shifting in his seat to look more directly at Jaehyun, “plenty?” Taeyong’s eyebrows rose with askance. “How many are we talking?”

Jaehyun’s manner suddenly shifted. Hongjoong smiled at the way his normally sturdy best friend cowered under his boyfriend’s scrutiny. Eyes widening an octave in panic, Jaehyun let out a nervous chuckle and replied, “This isn’t about us, baby.” he gave another shaky laugh, visibly hoping to pacify Taeyong with just that. Taeyong suspiciously narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend and told him, “this isn’t over.” before turning toward Hongjoong and speaking to him again, “might there be another reason why Seonghwa doesn’t want to date you?”

Hongjoong shook his head. “Not that I know of. Seonghwa and I get along great with each other.” he hung his head trying not to go off in a complaining rant. This whole situation with Seonghwa just had him disillusioned. He liked Seonghwa a lot, more than he could remember ever liking anyone else.

With Seonghwa, Hongjoong felt a comfortable and happy in a disgustingly sweet and soft way. Just looking back on their time at the flower village last week put a silly smile on his face. Seonghwa had been so cute running around carefree near the flowers beds. “Seonghwa likes me. I can tell.” he said matter-of-factly.

“Then do what you do best.” Taeyong beamed with mischief as if he’d just offered life changing advice on how to escape from some war camp. 

“What do you mean?” his boyfriend asked him.

“Just… kiss him. Grab him and kiss him. You are such a good kisser and that’s your strength. It’s bound to make him fall for you. Trust me.”

The confidence in Taeyong’s voice and the smile he was wearing just rattled Jaehyun a bit. “How do you know that Hongjoong is such a good kisser?” he asked, honestly wondering.

Taeyong’s smile fell and he glanced nervously at Hongjoong who harrumphed uncomfortably.

“That’s a great idea, Tae. I’ll definitely go with that.” Hongjoong said in the hope of rescuing his friend from the trouble he’d just got himself into.

Jaehyun wasn’t having it. “Have you two kissed before?”

“No. of course not.” Taeyong spluttered, choking the words out too weakly for anything convincing.

So Hongjoong stepped in, as the obvious smoother liar. “Some of my exes were vocal about what a good kisser I am. That’s it. I promise.” He put on his sweet, winning smile to convince Jaehyun that was the truth.

Yes Hongjoong and Taeyong had kissed once back in school, and it had meant close to nothing other than two boys experimenting and messing around so, there was absolutely no need for anyone to know that part of their past as college best friends.

Also, Jaehyun really just scared the out of Hongjoong.

Jaehyun nodded slowly, looking rather appeased by the explanation. Hongjoong could only hope that Taeyong wouldn’t get in trouble later.

Thank you, Taeyong mouthed to Hongjoong who replied with a subtle assuring nod of his head. 

“Since you are so good at that, it could work. A lot of people fall in love with someone after the first kiss, given that the kiss is good.” Taeyong said

“I’m not sure it’ll work, but it’s worth a try since I’m out of options anyway. You guys are awesome. Thanks.”

“Good luck, Joongie.” Jaehyun gave his friend two thumbs up.

“Wish yourself some luck too, Taeyong.” Jaehyun said with a warning ring to his tone. “When everyone leaves, we are going to have a long talk about your past. It seems there are a lot of things from there that I don’t know about.”

Hongjoong burst out laughing as Taeyong swallowed thickly. 

*************

Wooyoung looked like a councillor hard at work where he was seated in front of Seonghwa, with one leg thrown over the other, listening attentively. Seonghwa didn’t know whether to be grateful for the attention or cringe under it. Wooyoung was an outstanding brother and Seonghwa couldn’t possibly count how many times his brother had been there for him to lean on; but Wooyoung also spent a worrying amount of tie obsessing about himself and his good looks.

“I just want someone taller than I am. Does that mean I am a shallow and superficial person?”

“Of course not.” Wooyoung said right away as if to quickly dispel a silly theory. “you are a cute and sweet guy who deserves the best.” He paused. “In this case a guy who is at least a head taller than you.”

Seonghwa nodded with a grateful smile, “I knew you’d understand.”

“The guy we are talking abo