Hyukjae stood uncomfortably behind Sungmin who was trying on his suit for the wedding. He tried to smile at his cousin through the mirror but seeing that everybody else in the room had their appropriate significant others with them. He started to wonder whether or not he should actually be there. Sungmin doesn't really need help in how he looks and most of the conversations they've had always steered around the subject of "happy-wife-happy-life" so there's really nothing he could contribute there since the last relationship he had was four years ago and that ended pretty much as soon as the heat between them fizzled. 

"Always remember that your wife is always right," one of Sungmin's friends adviced.

"That's right!" His wife agreed. "Even when she's wrong, she's right."

Sungmin rolled his eyes at them and shook his head at their teasing. He fixed the outline of his suit one more time and that's when he noticed Hyukjae sitting at the corner playing with his phone and an obvious bored pout on his face. Sungmin lightly chuckled because he already knows the reason why behind it so he decided to comfort him by having a one-on-one conversation with the latter. 

"Oh! I forgot my phone in the car." Sungmin pretended to look around the room then tapped his pocket. "I'll be right back. Hyuk," he called to get his attention, "Can you do me a favor and call the catering company to confirm the menu one more time? I just want to make sure everything's all set."

"Sure. What's their number?"

"I think I have their calling card in the car." 

"Oh. Well, what's the name of the company? I'll google it." Hyukjae already opened the search app on his phone and completely missed the way Sungmin rolled his eyes at his gullibility. 

"Actually, I also need some help clearing some things out of the car before it gets cleaned tomorrow."

Hyukjae still wasn't able to pick up on what Sungmin was hinting at and volunteered Kangin to do it since he had more strength and bigger muscles than him. So, Sungmin tried to another reason to have him walk out the door but Hyukjae was really good at avoiding doing any sort of manual labor that Sungmin's patience eventually ran out and he just snapped. 

"HYUKJAE! Get your out the door so that I can talk with you privately!"

Hearing Sungmin yell at him immediately made Hyukjae get up from his seat and ran out the door. Sungmin heaved a heavy sigh before following after him and paid no mind to the suppressed laughs that came from the other people in the room. They all knew what he was going to talk to Hyukjae about anyways. 

Instead of going to the car, Sungmin brought the two of them towards the kitchen so that he could get a glass of water for himself. As happy and excited as he was to be getting married, the whole outfit that he was wearing was way too hot for the humid weather they were having. This is the very reason why he preferred to have a winter wedding but the location he wanted to host it in only had slots open in the summer and so he was stuck with choosing between doing the wedding in a three month time frame or to wait another year and a half for the next available slot. It wasn't a tough call to make at all.  

Hyukjae on the other hand wondered if he had done something wrong to be pulled out of the room. Having a one-on-one talk could only mean one thing and it's never a good thing. 

"Hyukjae-ah," Sungmin started after he finished his glass. "I know you hate weddings and that it's tough for you but can you try to look a bit more cheerful? Your Hyung's getting married!"

Hyukjae smiled and lightly chuckled at Sungmin's unbelievably happy look. "Of course I'm happy for you, hyung," he said. "I'm sorry if I seemed down. I just...feel uncomfortable being in the room since now that you're about to be married, that leaves me as the last single man in our family." 

"Well, you don't have to be." Sungmin walked closer to Hyukjae and placed a hand on his back. "I could still set up that date with-"

"No, thanks, Hyung." Hyukjae immediately rejected before he could even finish. "I'm good."

"No, you're not." Sungmin countered. "If you were you wouldn't be this mopey so close to my wedding day. I don't want you to be miserable because you feel left out. It's good to be single, Hyukjae, but at some point in life you got to open up your heart and take that risk. Otherwise, you're just gonna wake up one day and realize how lonely you actually are."

Hyukjae frowned hearing Sungmin's advice. "You think I'm lonely?"

"No," Sungmin denied. "Of course not. But I think, someday soon, you might be." Sungmin looked Hyukjae in the eye before continuing, "How about this. Let's make a deal."

"A deal?" Hyukjae hasn't done one of those with Sungmin in a while. "What kind of deal?"

"Well, my wedding's in three days. Are you bringing someone with you?"

Hyukjae pouted and thought Sungmin's question was meant to be rhetorical. "You know I'm not."

"Well, then as my wedding gift, I want you to go there with my friend as his date."

"What?!" Hyukjae asked completely against the idea. "Why should I?"

"Well, you're single and he's single so you know, it's a win-win for everybody." Sungmin shrugged his shoulders as though there was nothing wrong with his explanation whatsoever.  

"Hyung, the last time you set me up with one of your friends I ended up having to move and changing my number," Hyukae reminded grimly. "Twice."

Sungmin released an annoyed sigh at the reminder. "Okay, so I didn't know that Jaewook would be the obsessive-psycho type, but that doesn't mean I don't have any good friends that would be perfect for you!"

Hyukjae rolled his eyes then vehemently shook his head. "No, thank you, Sungmin hyung. I'm really fine."

"Well, I'm not letting you come to the wedding without a date." Sungmin persisted. 

Hyukjae could tell it wasn't really a serious demand from Sungmin and that if he were to choose not to bring anyone, Sungmin would be disappointed but would still accept his decision. However, hearing the genuine concern Sungmin had for his love life and the fact that he cared enough to pull the puppy dog eye trick on him, he decided to give in. Hyukjae took a deep breathe and a slow exhale before nodding his head in agreement. Sungmin squealed and gave Hyukjae a quick hug before returning back to the room with the other guests. 

Hyukjae watched Sungmin leave and waited until he was sure that he was inside the room and out of ear shot before sighing once again then taking out the card that Kyuhyun gave him a few months back. He stared at it long and hard debating whether he was really desperate enough to call them. His hold on the card tightened, creasing the side of it a little. It took him another minute before he was able to muster up the courage to take his phone out and dial the number. He could hear his heartbeat thump against his chest as he waited for an answer. It only took two rings for the person to answer. 

"Gloomy agency. How can I help you?"

Hyukjae gulped and felt his nervousness rise hearing the woman's voice on the phone. "H-Hello..."

"Hi!" She greeted back cheerfully despite Hyukjae's nervous greeting. "How can I help you today?"

"Uhh...y-you see I have this wedding I need to go to," Hyukjae started to explain then stopped wondering if he was giving out an unnecessary explanation to the other. "I-I mean, my friend gave me this card and um...,"  Hyukjae stopped again not sure if he was doing it correctly. "Well, actually...you know what - nevermind," he gave up almost immediately but just before he could hang up the phone, the woman he was talking to stopped him. 

"Wait a second dear," she chuckled at Hyukjae's flustered energy  "Why don't we start with an appointment?"

"Ap-Appointment?"

"Yes. I could meet with you around 3:00 in the afternoon today if you like. We could talk about what you're looking for over coffee."

Hyukjae felt at ease hearing her friendly and almost motherly tone. He nibbled the inside of his cheeks a little bit in reservation but when he heard Sungmin's faint cheerful voice in the background, he found himself agreeing to it. 

"Okay, great! There's a coffee shop in Seongdong called Haru and One Day. Can you meet me there?"

Hyukjae was surprised at the convenience of the location since that was very close to his work. "Uh - yeah. That works."

"Perfect! I'll see you soon...um, I'm sorry. I don't think I caught your name."

"Oh! I'm sorry," Hyukjae apologiz