Daesung took his mission so seriously that he completely ignored Seunghyun at school, not even meeting him on the roof for lunch. He couldn't help but feel the loneliness knocking on his heart's door, this would take some getting used to. After school he met Seunghyun for coffee, but not at the corner coffee shop, since that was frequented by students from their school. This one was a little further away, but it was also much cozier, more private. They didn't have to constantly look over their shoulder.

“You know, it's okay to look in my direction once in a while. I don't think that would raise any suspicions.” Seunghyun smiled and took a sip of his coffee like he had just been talking about the weather or something just as meaningless. Daesung blushed. So he noticed. Did that mean he had noticed all those thousands of times he had glanced at him when he was supposed to be looking at the teacher? But Seunghyun always looked so aloof, staring out of the window without a care in the world. Whether he noticed him at school or not, he definitely had his eyes on him now. Seunghyun was looking straight at him. Daesung felt as if he was undergoing an MRI, his insides exposed. “Is your coffee good?” Daesung asked a bit too nervously, trying to occupy his mind with something other than 'omg he's looking right at me, omg he's looking right at me'. “Mmm.” Seunghyun answered pensive.

“Where were you born?” Seunghyun suddenly asked. “Ee... I'm from Itaewon, why?” Daesung replied surprised, but pleased that he was showing an interest in him. “Just.. want to know more about you.” Seunghyun winked at him, delivering the final blow to Daesung's already aching stomach. He put his coffee down. “What are the Resident Registration Number digits for Itaewon... cuz I hate mine, it's like 3952 so it's impossible to remember my RRN!” Seunghyun randomly told him. “It's actually really cool, it's 7424 so my RRN has like a pattern to it.” Daesung happily replied. “Oh really? So what is it?” Seunghyun asked curiously. Daesung was oddly flattered that even his RRN interested him, “1742479”. “Oh, you lucky dog! Even a baby could memorize that!” Seunghyun exclaimed. “I know.” Daesung said proudly.

The coffee disappeared way too quickly and they said their goodbyes. Daesung wanted to give him a kiss goodbye, but didn't dare risk it.

The days passed slowly but Daesung cherished them all the same. As promised Seunghyun called every night like clockwork. Daesung liked it so much he was worried he was getting too attached, that he wouldn't be able to go to sleep without hearing those three wonderful words in that amazingly soothing and attractive voice, 'Good night cutie.'. They were slowly getting to know each other, although Daesung usually did most of the talking. It wasn't his fault, Seunghyun would always start asking him all kinds of questions. What was he supposed to do, not answer them? Daesung giggled to himself, not really used to the idea that Seunghyun was interested in him. Him! He didn't exactly understand why, but he was not about to ask him and make him realize that it didn't make any sense, that he wasn't actually all that interesting, killing Seunghyun's fascination in him. Daesung shook the thoughts out of his head. He didn't like thinking about the possibility of losing Seunghyun. It made the ground under his feet seem unstable, like it was going to crack at any moment and swallow him whole. It was better just to float around in the clouds and deal with the fallout from the earthquake when the time came.

The day before the date Daesung tried to prolong their little coffee meet, but Seunghyun was adamant - when the coffee was up, it was time to leave. Daesung was growing more and more frustrated over not being able to touch Seunghyun. He longed to give him a long goodnight kiss, or even just a peck on the cheek, it would be better than nothing. Then he would get to feel his smooth skin under his lips, his nose feasting on the rainbow of smells surrounding it. Daesung imagined how it would be. He could detect Seunghyun's body odor mixed with a subtle whiff of his cologne, and the strong smell of coffee since he had just finished his cup. Daesung ached for some contact, no matter how brief.

Daesung lay in bed, waiting impatiently for his goodnight call. He felt a bit spoiled and was surprised at how much he liked the feeling, did that make him a bad person? Seunghyun was already 5 minutes late in calling. Daesung started to get worried something had happened to him. He knew he was overreacting, but he couldn't help it. 7 minutes. Daesung held the bad thoughts at bay, Seunghyun was alright, after all, it were only 7 minutes. A lot could happen in 7 minutes, whole lives had be ruined in less time than that. 11 minutes. Daesung held his breath, staring at his phone when it finally started shaking like crazy. He had set it on vibrate so as not to bother his mom so late at night. Maybe it was more so she wouldn't bother him over repeatedly getting mysterious late night calls.

“Hey babe! I know I'm late, it couldn't be helped.” Seunghyun started. Babe! He called him babe! Daesung had never been called babe before, it released all kinds of weird feelings in him. He was happy how comfortable Seunghyun was getting with him. This week had really brought them closer together. “Are you all tucked into bed already?” Seunghyun continued. “Yeah.” Daesung answered cutely. “Hyung... can I ask you something?” He added warily. He wasn't sure if he should do this or not, but it had been weighing so heavily on him these past few days, he had to do it. “Of course.” Seunghyun replied automatically. “No I mean.. like.. about something important.” Daesung warned him, half wanting him to say no. “You can ask me anything. I can't promise I'll answer.. “ Seunghyun said softly. Daesung took a deep breath to steady his nerves. “Do you think I'm gay?” he asked earnestly, closing his eyes in anticipation of Seunghyun's answer. He could hear him breathing on the other side of the line. “That's really something only you can answer.” Seunghyun finally said, clearly trying to choose his words wisely. “Are you gay?” Daesung timidly added, he was skating on thin ice. He curled up his body, expecting to fall through it into the ice cold water at any moment. “Yes.” Seunghyun replied simply after a brief pause. “Have you always known?” Daesung pried further, he couldn't help himself. “Mmhh.. probably. I didn't play with dolls or put on my mother's make-up when I was little, if that's what you're thinking, but I've always known I was different somehow.” Seunghyun sounded like he was thinking aloud.

“Don't worry about it, it's only a label, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what day it is tomorrow!” Seunghyun said playfully, trying to loosen up the atmosphere. “Date day!” Daesung shouted excited. Seunghyun chuckled at his excitement. “Don't get your hopes up too high though, it won't be anything extravagant.” Seunghyun warned him. “I don't need extravagance, I just need you.” Daesung replied without thinking. He started panicking the moment he released the last word. What? Did he really just say that out loud? There was silence. Maybe he had only thought it and the silence was because he hadn't said anything at all. Please. Oh no! Daesung got multiple pangs in his stomach, it felt as if someone was punching him repeatedly. He was normally a very closed person when it came to his feelings, his mother had to pry every little thing out of him and she was the only one in whom he confided. “Good night cutie.” Seunghyun said sweetly and hung up.

Daesung unwrapped his brand new dress shirt, it shimmered in the afternoon light. Daesung had begged his mom continuously for the last 3 days to loan him money to buy it. Not the whole amount, Daesung had a tiny sum saved up, so he only needed a little bit. He had promised to take extra shifts to pay her back, as well as doing all of the laundry for a week. Today she had finally caved and they had gone together after school to pick it out, she'd had some time between her day job and her nightshift. Daesung made sure to hug her extra long and tight to show her how much he appreciated it. Now he had no money left, but he wasn't worried since Seunghyun had demanded to pay for tonight, it had been him that asked Daesung out after all.

There was a knock on the door. Daesung quickly buttoned his shirt and rushed downstairs. His mom had already gone to work so he was home by himself. As he opened the door, his heart beat so fast it gave him chest pains. Seunghyun stood right outside the door, well groomed, in jeans and a black shirt. The shirt was obviously made from some ridiculously expensive fabric, it suited him. “Hi.” Daesung said sheepishly, laughing a bit, not really knowing how to act. Seunghyun moved his hand from out behind is back, holding a bouquet of flowers. Daesung's whole body went red, accepting them with a shaking hand. “Eeh.. I'll.. I'll just put them in water, I'll be one sec.” Daesung ran back inside bursting with happiness. He felt most like dancing and singing, but he had to get back to Seunghyun who was waiting by the door.

When he returned, Seunghyun was leaning with his back against the doorpost. He looked like a young god, his features perfect in every way. He wasn't known as the most handsome guy in school for nothing. “You ready?” Seunghyun asked quietly, letting out a small chuckle as he gave Daesung a once-over with his eyes. “You might want to ehm..” Seunghyun pointed at his collar. Daesung examined it with his hands and froze, dying of embarrassment. He had forgotten to cut the tag off his shirt, it was dangling merrily from the collar. The jig was up. Now Seunghyun knew he had bought a new shirt especially for tonight. Oh, he was such a dork! He laughed politely while struggling to rip it off, but it was stubbornly holding on to the back of his shirt. Seunghyun laughed heartily, “Stay still, you!”. He smoothly tore it off with one move of his hand, he was always cool like that. Daesung put his shoes on in a hurry, he couldn't wait to get out of there.

It took Daesung a while to get over the embarrassment of the tag-incident, but after they'd had a delicious meal together, he finally got back in his element. He even managed to pull off some jokes over dessert, making Seunghyun laugh so hard tears came out. Daesung was proud of himself. He was funny, Seunghyun thought he was funny. This was a good night. He loved being with Seunghyun, even though it was hard at times since his insides imploded every time Seunghyun looked at him. “So what's next?” Daesung asked with stars in his eyes. He was heading into a chocolate induced coma. Seunghyun had ordered extra chocolate cake after seeing Daesung inhale his entire slice in under a second. “I was thinking.. a movie?” Seunghyun probed, even though it was obvious he had already planned it, having chosen which one they were going to watch and what they were going to eat while watching it.

The movie theater was packed with couples, it was Friday night after all. Seunghyun grabbed Daesung's wrist and pulled him through the crowd, buying popcorn, drinks and some sweets on the way. He chose two seats in the back row and they sat down, a bit disorientated after all the chaos outside. Daesung had some popcorn even though his stomach was complaining of lack of space, not knowing where to fit the extra food. They had backtracked a bit, shyness coloring the air between them. Thankfully the movie started, relieving them of the pressure of small talk.

Daesung felt warm, he was having a hard time focusing on the movie since he felt Seunghyun's presence beside him. He wanted to put his hand in Seunghyun's but every time he started thinking about it, he would start having a mild panic attack. He settled on putting his arm on the armrest, that way his hand would at least be available, should Seunghyun want to hold it. Less than a heartbeat later, Seunghyun had also put his arm on the armrest beside Daesung's. The sides of their arms touched slightly, maintaining a constant current of electricity between them.

Daesung had no idea what the movie was about, he couldn't think straight. All his energy went into controlling his breathing and wishing Seunghyun would make his move. Do it now, now! Daesung blinked profusely, swallowing hard. He could feel his hand getting sweaty. Oh no! Stupid hand! It was ruining everything. Now if Seunghyun would finally grab his hand, he would be utterly disgusted by how clammy and sticky it was. Should he try drying it on his trousers? Would Seunghyun notice? Holding his breath, he slowly moved his hand down to his thigh, trying to rub the sweat off discreetely. It wasn't working though. His trousers weren't absorbent at all, so he kind of just smeared the sweat around. Oh, he was in trouble. He had no idea what to do.

As he rubbed harder, he suddenly felt Seunghyun's hand on top of his. Stealthily, it slipped smoothly into his sweaty hand. Daesung stole a glance at Seunghyun, he appeared to be completely invested in the movie, staring at the screen unaffected. It was kind of like his hand was acting of its own accord. Daesung agonized over whether he could feel how sweaty he was and whether he found it gross. Seunghyun's thumb wriggled itself free and started the side of Daesung's hand gently. It calmed him a bit. He knew he should just enjoy the moment, but he was too agitated. This dating thing sure was stressful.

The movie was over all too soon and before the lights , Seunghyun's hand had disappeared. Seunghyun drove him home, silently listening to music on the way. Daesung was thankful that he didn't want to discuss the movie since he couldn't for the life of him recall one single moment from it. Seunghyun parked a few blocks away from Daesung's house, the street was abandoned. He turned off the car, leaned back in his seat after unlocking his seatbelt and looked at Daesung without saying a word. Daesung felt as if Seunghyun was staring right into his soul. He was in such emotional turmoil that every cell in his body was trembling. He took a few candid breaths to try to calm himself, but it didn't work. Seunghyun's eyes had such intensity to them, almost like a lion that was eyeing its prey appetizingly, calculating the best way to go in for the kill. Daesung didn't know whether he wanted to jump him right then and there or run away crying. There was too much going on inside of him.

Seunghyun stretched out his hand. Daesung could hear the click-sound from the button that unlocked his seatbelt. The seatbelt retracted automatically. He almost wanted to grab it and put it back, it was his safety line. Daesung waited anxiously for Seunghyun's next move, but he just sat there, watching him, not moving a muscle. The tension in the car was so intense that one could slice the atmosphere with a knife. Finally Seunghyun gently turned Daesung's head to face him, looking lovingly into his eyes.

“Oh my sweet sweet

Daesungie,

if I dragged you

up a tree

would you, would you,

would you kiss me?”

Seunghyun sang in a low rasp voice, like he had just woken up. Daesung's heart melted into a flowing river of mushy feelings. His voice was so beautiful and haunting. He wished he'd had a recorder so he could play that moment over and over again. Slowly, almost undetectably, Seunghyun started leaning in, drawing closer. At first all Daesung had heard was 'Sweet Daesungie' and 'kiss me', but then the rest of the lyrics started to sink in and his brain struggled to make the connections. “Wait, where have I heard this before?” Daesung wondered out loud, zoning out of the moment. “Oh, I get it! Daesung and Seunghyun, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G., first comes...” Daesung stopped abruptly, ice cold terror sinking into his bones. Love. That was what comes first. How could he be such an idiot bringing up love on a first date?! Like there wasn't enough pressure as it was? He wanted to hit himself over and over again.

While Daesung was having a row with his brain, a whisper snuck into his ear.

“I love you.”