Moving this story a little faster than I'd originally intended. It's probably as stupidly fluffy as I'd have envisioned for it to be, though.

Chapter 3, or, Donghae's really going in hard on the top 1%.

In fairytales or rom-coms or whatever sappy there is out there that people watch to convince themselves that love exists, the main character usually can’t fall asleep the night before the big date. Or at least they’d wake up way before their alarm, their heart racing and a stupid smile on their face. 

So then this must be real life, because Donghae sleeps through the night very soundly, and when his alarm rings, he groans into his pillow and contemplates his entire existence. Or maybe it’s just because it’s not an official date and Donghae’s very tired from his workout? Who knows. 

The point is, he hits snooze several times, and by the time he finally manages to drag himself out of bed, the clock on his lock screen says it’s 7.30. 

It takes him about 3 seconds to process all that information. Okay, so he did sleep for an extra hour and past his alarm. But is it really that bad? He still has plenty of time. What was it that he wanted to wake up for again? It just seems very unlikely that he’d have been so excited about writing yet another essay on why it probably wouldn’t be immoral to eat the rich that he’d set a goddamn 6.30 alarm for it. Donghae may want to fight against the system, yes, but that struggle should ideally come after he has gotten sufficient rest. 

“Oh ,” he mutters under his breath when it sinks in. 8am. It’s Hyukjae’s shift that starts at 8am, and here he is, sitting in his bed like a lazy bum who has yet to go to the shower and pick out an outfit that will make heads turn — and especially that one head. And also to prepare his study materials or whatever; that’s not really the point.

He curses one more time before he scrambles out of his bed and runs straight into the shower. It’s times like these where he’s glad he doesn’t have a roommate. He really doesn’t need anyone else screwing with his potential love life when he himself is perfectly capable of doing so. 

He gets out of the shower in record time, feeling considerably refreshed but also a little wet all over (because he brought in the wrong towel, the one he usually uses to dry his hair, but it’s not like he has any extra time to worry about the wet floor or the soaked carpet). He stands in front of his (tiny) wardrobe and wishes he had enough foresight the night before to pick out an outfit.

What says ‘okay yeah I’m trying to impress you but I’m not desperate to the extent that I’m willing to dress like a hooker at 8am in the morning’? He has some outfits that complement those hard-earned muscles and has been told many times (often through social media) that they make him look, quote, ‘super hot, like he’s the devil with an angel’s face’. (For the record he just thinks whoever left that particular comment watched the show Lucifer one time too many.) But the point is, he’s going to a Starbucks cafe, and it’s 8am in the morning, so it doesn’t seem entirely appropriate for him to be wearing skin-tight jeans or shirts that are one sized too small. He knows what boundaries he can’t cross, okay. 

If he can’t dress up like a y 21st century Adonis, maybe the next best option would be to capitalise on that (again, another social media comment) ‘cute as ’ face. Hopefully Hyukjae appreciates the kind of soft-boy aesthetics Donghae’s thinking of going for. 

So he pulls out a grey hoodie from his wardrobe, puts it on, and is about to reach for a pair of sweatpants when he decides that you know what, a bit of in the morning can’t hurt anyone, so he puts on a pair of skinny jeans instead. He’s glad he did that hour on the treadmill the day before because boy do these jeans fit like a goddamn glove. 

Then he realises it’s already 7.50, and tries not to freak out as he practically just sweeps his notes into a backpack and then (gently) put his laptop in as well. 

Right before he leaves though, he makes sure to pick up the pair of round glasses he has lying around on his table. Not because he needs it to see, but precisely for this exact reason: to complement his soft-boy aesthetics. 

It might be too early in the morning for him to be trying so hard, but he can’t bring himself to care, not when he gets to the lift and sees that it’s already 7 freaking 55.

—

Donghae regrets everything in his entire goddamn life when he makes it to the cafe and it’s already 8.15. 

Partially because he kind of feels like he’s failed Hyukjae’s first mission to him. To be fair, it’s not like he promised Hyukjae he’d be there on the dot or something, and it’s not like Hyukjae needs his help with opening the store (does Hyukjae even open the store? He didn’t do it the day before, did he? God, there’s so much about him that Donghae doesn’t yet know.) But still, Donghae can’t help but feel a little upset, because Hyukjae had told him that he starts work at 8, and he had said so with an exclamation mark, so maybe he was also looking forward to seeing Donghae or something, no? 

But also because he steps into the cafe and is panting like a ing dog and yet there Hyukjae is, standing behind the counter looking fresh as a daisy and like the most beautiful man Donghae has ever seen. 

Hyukjae breaks into a small smile, though, when their eyes lock, and even though Donghae knows how stupid he must look for stumbling into a Starbucks cafe like it’d be so overcrowded he’d have to fight people for seats, dressed in a hoodie and carrying a backpack and just generally gave off the vibes that screamed ‘I’m a sleep-deprived university student trying to meet deadlines’, he feels himself smile in return and thinks he would go through that entire morning again if it meant Hyukjae would look at him like that just once more. Except maybe he’d wake up a bit earlier the next time round. 

So he tries to calm himself down and exhales deeply — to catch his breath because of the run, not because of Hyukjae’s breathtaking smile, obviously — before he walks towards the counter, casually holding onto one of his backpack straps because he’s, well, so chill about everything.

“Hey,” Hyukjae says, that damn smile on his face again.

“Hey,” Donghae says back, stupidly. His brain might be short-circuiting a little because Hyukjae’s beauty is a lot to take in this early in the morning, and because he’s just a bit inept at dealing with situations that involve his (excessive) emotions. It’s not often Donghae feels like he’s been swept off his feet by another person. I mean, have you seen him? It takes a lot to impress someone who himself looks like he’d been hand-sculpted by a Renaissance period artist. 

Thankfully it seems like Hyukjae has enough conversation-making skills for both of them — though on hindsight, he might just be good at his job — because he says then, “Back for more of the strawberry smoothie?” 

Donghae wants to yell back for more of you, stupid, but it doesn’t seem like a very nice thing to say and he also doesn’t have the courage to be that straightforward. 

Instead he lets out an awkward chuckle. “It’s too early for that,” he manages to say, and he also manages to bring a hand up to adjust his glasses so you know, twenty points to him for pulling it off. “Some coffee would be nice.”

Hyukjae purses his lips in response, as if he hates coffee and can’t for the life of him fathom why anyone would want to order that. Which is strange, because… well, he works for Starbucks, though he still punches in the order. 

Donghae somehow feels the need to explain himself. “Just need the caffeine to get me through all of my uni coursework, you know?” He says, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. Has Hyukjae noticed his jeans yet?

“Yeah, I get it,” Hyukjae sighs in return. “University’s crazy.”

This would be the perfect time for Donghae to ask if he goes to the same university as he does and you know, try to figure out whatever minimal overlapping interests they may have so they can get to know each other better and stuff like that. But Donghae’s shy, okay, and he doesn’t want to seem like he’s prying into Hyukjae’s life.

“Anyway, are you having it for here or to go?” 

“For here,” Donghae says, and he thinks he mustn’t have seen wrongly the flicker of surprise in Hyukjae’s eyes. It ma