requested by anon

"Sooo...."

Junhong's burying his face deeper into the thick folds of the scarf wrapped around his neck, the tips of his ears slowly turning red as the two of you walk side-by-side.

"So..." you mimic, the words drawling out slowly as your teeth tug lightly on your bottom lip.

You're not sure if it's possible but Junhong seems to be trying to make himself even smaller, and with each millimeter he tries to scrunch himself up, your urge to poke the squishy tops of his cheeks grows exponentially.

But you can't.

Well, not that you can't, per se, but you probably shouldn't, because it's your first date and all and you don't want to creep him out.

Ah, first date.

The butterflies that have taken up camp in your abdominal region begin fluttering anew, and you swear at them silently, vowing to end them.

"We're, uh, here," Junhong mumbles through his scarf, knocking on a door twice. He reaches for the doorknob and gives it a twist, but it only gives a fraction of a rotation before it refuses to turn any more.

There's a pause that shouldn't be awkward (but is, because Junhong's kind of a perpetually awkward guy and somehow it manages to rub off onto you) before the door opens, revealing one of Junhong's band hyungs (you still haven't memorized all their names-to-faces yet, although you probably should. The internet is there for a reason.)

"Yonggukkie-hyung." Junhong's voice takes on a slightly whining tone, and he reaches up to tug on 'Yonggukkie-hyung's' shirt sleeve. "You said you'd be gone by now!"

'Yonggukkie-hyung's face suddenly seems to turn ten years younger, his hand reaching up to adjust his snapback while a sheepish grin crosses his lips.

"Sorry, Junhong-ah, you know I lose track of time. Let me just clean up a bit and it's all yours."

He then turns to you and bows. "Sorry to meet a bit awkwardly like this. I'm Bang Yongguk."

You respond in kind, your cheeks burning red as Junhong makes flaily arms at Yongguk to get him to move faster.

Yongguk just laughs as he ducks back inside, motioning for you and Junhong to follow him.

"Hyung! You said you'd stop eating so much ramyun!" Junhong exclaims as Yongguk starts throwing things into a trash can and shoving things to the sides of the tables in there. "You promised Himchannie-hyung, and now he's gonna have a conniption!"

"Aren't you too young to be using words like that?" Yongguk asks, but you swear he sounds more like a proud father than actually mad.

After a few minutes, Yongguk seems to determine the place fit for other people, and he kicks the trash bin under the table with a satisfied sort of finality.

"Well, I'm off, kids. Have fun, and, uh..." His eyes flick between you and Junhong for a bit, before he finally chokes out a "be safe?" and disappears faster than you've ever seen anyone exit a room without sprinting for the exit.

Well, at least you seem to have figured out part of the reason why Junhong's so awkward.

His hyungs (well, one of them, at least) are practically swimming in it.

"So, uh," Junhong coughs, breaking the silence as he pulls out a disk from his hoodie pocket, fumbling with the plastic case before taking out the CD and sliding it into one of the numerous CD players in the room.

He motions for you to take a seat, and you slide on to one of the rolling chairs while Junhong sits down and scoots closer to the desk. He plugs in a pair of headphones and puts one side to his ear while he fiddles with some dials, humming to himself as he does so.

It's fascinating to see how his body visibly relaxes once he starts working, his previously tense spine curving over to bend almost protectively around the music, his fingers playing with practiced ease over what must be hundreds of doodads that you probably couldn't remember even if your life depended on it.

You could probably spend an entire day just watching Junhong do his thing (not just because his side profile shows off his jawline oh-so-well), but the two of you came here for a purpose and Junhong's just about ready to show it.

"So Yonggukkie-hyung's been teaching me some stuff," he says, and just like that, awkward Junhong returns, but the reverence for his hyung is clear in his voice, "and I wanted to show you. Because... uh, well..."

His voice trails off and he reaches for the headphones, motioning for you to put them on while he (pretends) to adjust some more things.

The headphones are large, the kind that engulfs your entire head, muting the world around you, and you gulp, the sudden deprivation of sense a little much to handle at once.

Junhong presses a button, and a soft melody plays through the headphones, almost like a gentle caress.

You sit there in shock once the vocals begin, because Junhong is singing, and it's actually really good.

His voice isn't perfect, and there are times where he strays off-key or falters, but it's just so authentically him that you can't help but love it.

Junhong's face is expectant as the ending notes fade out, and you slide the headphones down over your neck and practically launch yourself into his arms.

He tenses at first, not expecting the contact, but you can feel the vibrations of his chest as he laughs, his arms coming up to reciprocate the hug.

"Is it good?" he asks, and you head- him lightly, groaning.

"Stupid, it was awesome!"

You look up to see one of the happiest smiles you've ever seen on Junhong, his eyes slightly misty and his dimple on in full force.

"I'm going to kiss you now," he says, "because I want to and if I don't do it now it probably won't happen for another five months or something."

The words barely have any time to register in your mind before he moves in, his lips pressing lightly to yours.

It's short and sweet and slightly awkward, but it's just so Junhong that it's perfect, and that's all you need.

Not bad at all, as first dates go.