Daesung was walking home with the biggest smile on his face, he was in fourteenth heaven, because seven was just not a high enough number to describe how he was feeling. After they finished the hotdogs it had gotten late, so they had decided to call it a night. It was a school night after all. Seunghyun offered him a ride home but Daesung respectfully declined. He thought he had maybe seen a shadow of disappointment pass over his face, but he wasn't sure. Daesung hadn't said no because he didn't want a ride, he just didn't want Seunghyun to know where he lived. It wasn't the nicest of neighborhoods, he doubted Seunghyun even knew of its existence. He wanted to shelter Seunghyun from his poverty for as long as he possibly could, not because he was ashamed exactly. He couldn't really explain it, he didn't really understand it himself, but he wasn't sure how Seunghyun would react if he knew and he liked things as they were now.

He had his number, he couldn't believe it. He felt like a character in a fairytale, a clever one, he chuckled to himself. He wanted to send him a message right now, but he didn't know what to say. His heart beat a happy tune, overexcited. He looked at the crab bottle opener in his hand, it was so legendarily ugly that it made him laugh every time he looked at it. Seunghyun had slipped it in his hand as they were leaving. Daesung was glad, he wanted something to remember this night by. Daesung attached it to his keychain, now he would have it with him always.

Even if Seunghyun didn't want anything more to do with him, he was happy they got to have this night together. They had talked for almost an hour at the snack bar, who knew Seunghyun had so much to say. He had even told a joke! Had somebody told him this morning that Seunghyun would tell him a joke tonight, he wouldn't have believed it in a million years. So not only was Seunghyun dashingly handsome and mysteriously attractive, he was funny too!

Daesung couldn't stop smiling. He fiddled with his phone, checking for the umpteenth time whether Seunghyun's phone number was still there, that he hadn't just dreamt it all. His heart skipped a beat every time he thought about sending him a message. It was tricky, because Seunghyun didn't know that he had his number. Wouldn't it come out a bit stalkerish if he sent him a message out of the blue? Daesung didn't have much experience in dating, not that he was sure that was what this was. He hoped so though.

Daesung was tucked into bed. The light from the screen of his phone lit up his face in the darkness of the room. He pulled the covers over his head, it was like he was in a tent with a flashlight. He began typing 'Hey, thanks for tonight! See you at school tomorrow.'. He read the message over and over until it had lost all meaning. No, it was too boring. He deleted it and started again, 'Tonight was fun, we should do it again sometime.'. Too bold. Delete. He stared at the blank screen for a while. What could he say? It had to be interesting, but not too out there. He wanted to show interest without coming off too strong. He began again, 'Tonight meant a lot to me, I hope we can be friends.'. No, that was too intimate and corny, right? He couldn't send that, could he? He wanted Seunghyun to know how he felt, but he couldn't muster up the courage. He would have to face him at school tomorrow, and every day after that.

He decided to keep it simple, 'Thanks for tonight, Daesung :)'. The more he read it, the more convinced he got that this was the way to go. It said everything without saying anything, it was perfect. Daesung went into the phone directory and chose Seunghyun's number, it was listed under 'lobster'. The crab-incident had reminded him of a scene from Friends, where Pheobe was describing how lobsters mated for life, soul mates walking together in their little fish tank, claw in claw. Daesung thought it was a beautiful image and hoped Seunghyun would turn out to be his lobster. He wasn't crazy or anything, he knew it was unlikely, but it never hurt to have hope. Hope had gotten him and his family through some really tough times, he had learned never to underestimate its power.

Now all that remained was to push 'send'. Daesung's finger froze over the send-button, he didn't dare push it. What if Seunghyun was already asleep? But it would be too late to send it tomorrow, this was his one and only shot, he had to take it. He drew a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. “I can do this.” he whispered to himself. It was now or never.

*Beep-beep* *Beep-beep* Just as he was about to send the message, his inbox lit up. '1 New Message'. Who was sending him a message at this hour? He saved the message to Seunghyun and opened the inbox. He stopped breathing. At the top of his inbox, in bold letters, there it stood, 'lobster'. How? How was this possible? But.. how did he get his number? Had he really checked his outgoing calls for his number, after Daesung had used his phone in his brilliant scheme? Daesung was speechless. His heart was going a mile a minute, blood rushing to his head. He couldn't imagine what to expect, so he just closed his eyes and pushed 'read'.

Daesung opened one eye slowly, peeking at his phone. The message was short. Giving in to his curiosity he opened his eyes and read the message, 'Hope you got home safe.'. He didn't even sign it. How was Daesung supposed to know who it was from? Okay, he had saved his number and did know who it was from, but Seunghyun didn't know that, how would he know that? He read it again. It gave him a warm tingling sensation. Seunghyun cared if he got home safe. Daesung was about to burst from happiness, so he turned around and squealed into his pillow. Okay, he had to calm himself down long enough to send a reply, it would be awkward if too much time elapsed between the message and the reply. He found the message he saved and revised it, pressing 'send' before he could think about it, 'I did. Thanks for tonight, Daesung :)'. 'Message Sent'.

Daesung waited. It felt like eternity. He just sat there, staring at his phone. “Beep, please, come on, you can do it, beep for me.” he said to his phone. Nothing happened. The wait was excruciating. Maybe he wouldn't get a message back, after all his message didn't really need answering nor did it offer any conversation starters. Daesung kicked himself, he should have thought of that!

*Beep-beep* *Beep-beep* It was like music to Daesung's ears. It came just as he was about to give up and go to sleep. He opened his inbox excited. 'lobster' shone bold and bright at the top of the message list. Daesung held is breath as he opened the message. 'We should do this again sometime.'. Daesung wanted to run through the streets screaming at the top of his lungs “He wants to do it again!”. The rush of adrenaline made him bolder, a mischievous look spread over his face as he got an idea. He wrote it quickly and sent it before he would lose his nerve, 'Sure, but first you need to work on your ring tossing skills! ^^'. Daesung snickered.

Daesung had been staring at his phone for an hour now, his eyes bloodshot and there were dark circles forming under them. He checked his phone for the millionth time, nothing, no reply. He regretted his boldness, how could he have been so insensitive? He blew it. He wanted to cry. Why was he so bad at this? Maybe Seunghyun was just being polite, 'We should do this again sometime.'. Wasn't that something one would say to gently let someone down? 'Sometime' was so vague, it didn't imply any immediate point of time, sometime could be in a year's time. Hell, it could be in ten years' time or never. He threw his phone away, it landed at the foot of the bed. He fetched it right away and checked again, 'No new messages'. He was beginning to hate those three words.

He had to face it, his little fairytale was over. His lobster would go off to find another lobster, a better lobster that always knew the right thing to say. He would become a lonely hermit lobster, with no claw to hold on to but his own. Daesung's eyelids were so heavy he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. His eyes closed and he drifted off, falling into a restless dream.