As the next month progressed, Zhou Mi only became more confused with Kyuhyun. Confused, and perhaps a bit infatuated with the man. He saw him on numerous occasions, all of which were 'dates' that were set up through Heechul. It turned out that Kyuhyun's mom seemed to have a never ending supply of eligible young girls for her son to date. Zhou Mi couldn't help but wonder why the woman was so desperate for her son to marry.

It was impossible that Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun didn't become close. They were seeing each other at least once a week, sometimes more. Their little outings were never awkward and almost always followed the same pattern. It had begun making Zhou Mi's job of dating other clients a bit more tedious, as he had become accustomed to Kyuhyun. He liked that Kyuhyun talked to him, not just because he had to, but because he wanted to. The friendly conversations, casual touches and genuinely kind gestures were new to Zhou Mi. He had forgotten what it was like to actually spend time with a man who seemed to care about him.

Zhou Mi's affection for Kyuhyun only grew during this time. After every date he would jump out of Kyuhyun's car (he never let Zhou Mi take the subway home anymore) and run up to his apartment where he would fall onto his couch and run over every detail of the night. He felt like a girl in middle school with her very first crush and he knew it was ridiculous. Yet, he couldn't help it. Kyuhyun gave him butterflies, whether he liked it or not.

But Kyuhyun was paying Zhou Mi to spend time with him because he needed to get rid of the girls. Zhou Mi had to keep reminding himself of this. It was a BUSINESS arrangement, and nothing more. Just because Kyuhyun seemed to enjoy the time they spent together, didn't mean that he actually did. It was very possible that he was just trying to keep things from getting awkward. These thoughts plagued Zhou Mi's mind, and it was what kept his emotions under some kind of control.

This control was lost one night when he heard his phone ring and saw Kyuhyun's name flash across the screen.

He had broken down and entered Kyuhyun's number into his contacts after their fourth date. It was for convenience, he told himself. That way he didn't have to go searching for his file every time Heechul called him to tell him that Kyuhyun needed again.

But never once had Kyuhyun called him first. Called him back when he couldn't talk at work, sure. But Kyuhyun had never initiated the contact directly to him.

"Hello?" he answered tentatively, unsure of what to expect from this change in behavior.

"Hey, Zhou Mi! It's Kyuhyun. I need you to do a huge favor for me," Kyuhyun said and Zhou Mi thought there was something slightly off about his voice. He didn't sound frightened, exactly, just more along the lines of nervous and his words shook a bit. This was odd for him. Kyuhyun was usually so well put together, so confident. It disturbed Zhou Mi to hear Kyuhyun shaken.

"Of course, what is it?"

There was a pause as Kyuhyun took a deep breath before he spoke again.

"I need you to go on a date with me."

Zhou Mi laughed at the request. Hadn't that been what they had been doing all along? It seemed ridiculous that Kyuhyun should sound nervous asking him such a familiar question.

"Of course. But why didn't you call Heechul?" Zhou Mi asked, a bit confused. Kyuhyun had always gone through Heechul when he needed him, what would make this any different?

"I, um, I don't want Heechul to know about this. I'll pay you, of course, I was just hoping we could do this between the two of us and keep Heechul out of it."

Now this was a strange request. Normally Zhou Mi would say no. He wasn't stupid, and taking private hires was risky business. He knew some guys who tried to run their own business, but it hardly ever worked out. Having a third party like Heechul meant security. Heechul had contacts, and he knew how to do his research. Having Heechul meant that Zhou Mi got paid and stayed safe every time. Kyuhyun was different, though. Kyuhyun was almost a friend, a man who he had done business with several times and a man he trusted. He could do this for him.

"Sure, when do you want to meet?" Zhou Mi asked, switching back to the business methods he knew.

"Is tomorrow possible? It's really urgent," Kyuhyun answered and Zhou Mi could hear in his voice just how important this was. Zhou Mi couldn't help but wonder if instead of arranging a date for Kyuhyun, this time his mother had arranged him a marriage.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine. I'll meet you at seven at our usual place."

"That works. Hey, thanks Zhou Mi. I really appreciate this," Kyuhyun said and his voice sounded genuinely sincere.

"It's not a problem. What else are friends for?"

As soon as the words were out of the mouth he kicked himself for them. Friends? Had he just called them friends? Never once had he verbally tried to define their relationship, and this was how he decided to do it. He was an idiot, he really truly was.

Lucky for him Kyuhyun just laughed.

"Yeah. Well, I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Yes, tomorrow. He would get to see Kyuhyun tomorrow and the thought made his stomach lurch with both unease and excitement.

Short update. Sorry my updates are so infrequent. I just got back from break and am now swamped with work my professors didn't care to tell us about before break. Because life.