The light clip of a cup being set on the table pulled Donghae from his stream of consciousness and back to the quaint coffee house. Looking up, Donghae took in the sight of the waiter from before, noting now how the other man’s hair was short and light; a great deal neater than his own shaggy main. Suddenly, under the standing man’s smiling face and well-maintained features, Donghae felt self-conscious about his shadowing eyes and tousled hair. Actual feelings were starting to creep back into his consciousness now that the crazy girl wasn’t there.

“Uh…” Hae began rather unintelligently. He looked down at the cup of coffee in front of him, greatly impressed with the way the light foam on top had been manipulated into a soft-looking leaf. It occurred to him at that moment that this probably wasn’t his. “I… I didn’t order this,” he muttered weakly.

“I know,” the young waiter said cheerfully. “You looked tired, so I thought this would help.”

Donghae felt his face flush, feeling embarrassed that his sleep deprivation was so obvious to others. He bowed his head in gratitude and thanked the waiter softly.         

“No problem,” the man smiled.

The next move threw Donghae off temporarily. The water turned towards the counter, waved an arm to get someone’s attention, then threw up ten fingers. The next thing he knew, the waiter was taking the seat in front of him and turning up the brightness of his smile.

“I’m Hyukjae,” said the waiter, folding his hands in his lap and leaning forward a bit. “What’s your name?”

Donghae shyly bowed his head again and said, “Donghae… Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Donghae.” Hyukjae motioned his head towards the door. “Old girlfriend?”

Somewhat baffled at the other man’s forwardness, Donghae debated whether or not to inform the waiter on what had happened. The willingness to share was so overwhelming that Hae wondered what on earth had gotten into him. “No,” he corrected. “She asked me here and I guess she realized how dull I am.”

Hyukjae’s smile became less intense, but his eyes still shone with the same friendliness. “Mmm,” he uttered in understanding, “She’s probably shallow.”

“Yeah,” Donghae confirmed.

Silence enveloped the duo, causing Donghae to squirm and look around at every other place in the building except the person in front of him. Hyukjae, on the other hand, appeared to have no problem just looking unblinking at the man across the table.

“So,” Donghae said, unable to take the silence any longer, “How long have you been working here?”

Hyukjae appeared to grin as if he knew Donghae was making a valiant effort to keep the conversation going. “I’ve been working here since it opened. My uncle owns this place.”

Donghae’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? That’s interesting…”

The way Hae was feeling made him uncomfortable. He felt extraordinarily comfortable with this stranger, which at the same time made him feel awkward. Was it normal to feel such an immediate kinship with another person? He was unfamiliar with how these things went…

“So, you’re going to think this is completely random,” Hyukjae started out. Donghae was surprised to see the other man looking a little bashful, his cheeks tinting just the lightest shade of pink and his mouth opening into a nervous smile. “But I was wondering if you happen to dance… as a hobby or something…?” Hyukjae glanced up after he finished asking the question, curious about the response he would get.

Donghae had to agree. The question was completely random. The young college student shook his head and smiled apologetically, “No, I don’t…” He thought briefly about adding something like “-beyond what I do in the shower or my bedroom,” but decided that he really didn’t need to divulge that to the waiter across from him. In fact, he didn’t know why he even contemplated it in the first place.

“Well, are you against it?”

Donghae blinked and tilted his head just a little, “Against what? Dancing? No, I guess not…”

Hyukjae smile brightened back up to the volume it had been when he first sad down and he sat up a little straighter. “Great! Would you like to come to my class with me?”

“Class? Like a dance class?” Donghae asked, a little caught up in the rush of excitement emanating from Hyukjae.

“Yeah. It’s not anything girly like ballet or tap or anything. It’s hip-hop. It’s a lot of fun and I don’t really know anyone around here that would like to go with me…” Hyukjae trailed off, his eyes looking wide and hopeful at Hae.

Donghae’s mind raced. He really didn’t have any friends either… and Hyukjae seemed friendly enough. He didn’t think going to a dance class would be too much trouble. He hated to admit it, but he’d been over-studying this semester to kind of compensate for the fact that he really didn’t have anything else to do. So why not?

“Ok,” Donghae agreed. “When and where?”

Hae didn’t know a person could look so excited without exploding. Hyuk jumped up out of the booth and looked like he would break into a victory dance right then and there. But he evidently composed himself enough to suspend that impulse while working. “It’s this Saturday at 9 AM. Can you come?”

Donghae didn’t even have to think about it. His Saturdays were always full of messing around and killing time before he drug out some books to read. “Yeah, no problem. Where should I go?”

“Just meet me here,” Hyukjae said, his smiling filling up his face. Donghae liked seeing the man that happy… it was rubbing off on him and making him feel excited too.

Hae looked down at his watch and saw that he only had 15 minutes before his next class. “Aish,” he muttered and stood up, gathering his things. “I have class,” he explained to the onlooking waiter. “I’ll meet you here on Saturday.”

Hyukjae nodded excitedly. “Ok! I’ll be waiting! Enjoy your class, Donghae.”