Take 2 – The rain and sprinkles of destiny. Fate is you and I.

There was this thing where character A would bump into character B in a store only to run into each other an hour later around the street corner and then finally end the day with stepping on one another’s toes in the subway.

Before you know it A and B are running in an area equal to 1 and the probability they’ll meet again is 80 to 100 percent.

Some might call it a coincidence while others would like to push it into a more wholesome direction…

they called it fate.

It might sound silly but it was one of the things that could console Daehyun whenever he faced failure, which was believe it or not rather often.

He could just think ‘Ah, it was not meant to be’ and then move on. Brilliant wasn’t it?

No wonder fate worked as such a phenomenal pick-up line as well.

If one liked the guidebook cringe worthy stuff that is.

The coming days were like a rollercoaster for Daehyun, when things went up and he thought he was done screaming they tended to go down again. School in particular was a pain and it made him question if majoring in Business and Administration was such a good choice after all. Did he really want to look at numbers for the remaining three fourths of his life?

Things went up though whenever he caught a glimpse of CP, or Youngjae as Daehyun would like to call him nowadays. It was a wonderful name in Daehyun’s clearly biased opinion. On a good day they’d see each other more than three times, or rather Daehyun would see the other more than three times. Youngjae too immersed in taking beautiful photos rarely noticed his surroundings and Daehyun was fine with that. The risk of being misunderstood as a stalker was too high for him to want to be noticed. Ever.

Work at the coffee shop would more or less be the same if he and Himchan didn’t work the same shift, but his schedule happened to collide so well with his hyung’s it was almost funny.

Himchan had the tendency to become a bit overwhelming sometimes. And now that one Youngjae was in the picture, things were deemed to go ape at least twice a week. Oh right, his raven haired friend had this newfound fondness for the word and used it whenever the situation allowed it, which was about once every hour or so. Daehyun could already see it having a negative influence on him, but wisely left it uncommented.

“Have you asked him out yet?” Himchan would ask at the beginning of every workshift and Daehyun would try to vary his answer between, ‘No’ ‘It’s not that easy’ and ‘hyuung’ because nobody liked things too uniform in this city. But the next coming let say five hours would always consist of the elder accusing him of:

1. Having no balls — Which was quite ridiculous considering he’s obviously a guy.

2. Being a coward — Initially he thought it meant the same as number 1 but he got shot down so hard he learned never to argue with the mighty Kim Himchan ever again.

3. Being such a — This one, Daehyun’s wasn’t really sure of what it meant. Well, he would be offended if it was supposed to be offensive you know. But since when was being a a bad thing? Not that Himchan would ever say something to hurt anyone but… or could he mean that Daehyun was too innocent? Strange, because the younger could honestly say he knew everything there was to know. Perhaps not everything, but enough to get around.

Himchan did have a fair point though amongst all the nonsense.

It was no secret Jung Daehyun stuck where he was and the risk of him never getting the chance to even utter the words ‘I like you’ to Youngjae before the other disappeared down the aisle with someone else was constantly gaining momentum. Never lose, always gain. Wait — was Youngjae even gay? What if he was already taken just like that coffee dude? See why he hated coffee? What if he already has someone on his mind? There were so many ifs and so little answers.  How nauseating.

‘.’

***

Daehyun went up that morning and very determinedly told himself to study for the coming exam the term passed on to summerbreak. One would think that sitting in the library would help him focus, but the only thing he’d been doing for the last hour was to watch the hands of the giant clock on the wall move with time. Very fascinating.

For those pitiful of course.

He looked down at his textbook about Microeconomics, turned a page and gave it another try. It lasted 5 minutes before he sighed in defeat and shut it to never open it again, at least not until the revision week. He opened his bag, got up from his seat and started shoving notes and textbook alike into the worn-out thing. Then a faint clicking sound similar to one of a shutter made his eyes flicker to the side…

 he looked once and then twice…

‘Youngjae?’

No doubt, Youngjae was sitting by the table behind him with a camera in his hands. And then there was a whole lot of mixed emotions involved. He was bewildered, happy and nervous all the same time. Mostly nervous. Daehyun’s hands stilled and the book slipped out of his hands to land soundly on the floor causing half of the library to jump in fright. Including Youngjae.

If there’s something such as fate, he wondered if he really was destined to always make a fool out of himself in front of the person, the only person he wanted to impress.

‘Geez, give me a break would you…’

Their eyes met and Daehyun cursed under his breath.

He really needed to put an end to all the blushing he had been doing lately…

The sound of a camera shutter went off again and Daehyun turned his head in its direction. His eyes blinked continuously when he saw Youngjae aim the circular lens towards him. If he didn’t know better he’d think that the other was —

“Did you just take a picture of me?”

If he wasn’t too busy keeping his ears from combusting he’d congratulate himself for voicing a coherent sentence for once.

Youngjae lowered his camera and caught Daehyun gaze. “What makes you think that?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“W-what?” So much for being coherent… “You just —“

Nah, it probably wasn’t it. Of course not.

He should probably leave it there and retreat, you know run while he still could.

He turned back to his backpack, proceeded to zip it up and swung it over his shoulder. “Uhm… bye Youngjae,” he said softly after a short moment of contemplation. He probably sounded weird but he really wanted to know how it felt to have the name roll off his tongue. It was nice.

“Huh?” Youngjae tilted his head to one side. “Have we met before?”

The first thought that ran through Daehyun’s head was that the other must be joking. The second was that maybe he had been fooled by none other than Kim Himchan himself! And it was so cruel he actually found it difficult to breathe. What if Himchan just gave him a random name to make him feel better? The name had been running around in his mind all this while, what if the name didn’t even have an owner.

And most importantly what if the owner wasn’t Youngjae, or not-Youngjae or CP or…

His eyes fell to his feet when it hit him how he actually for a millisecond thought that he had a chance— that they had a chance.

“Wow, this is awkward” Youngjae smiled sheepishly and ran his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously.” He chuckled softly to himself before he looked Daehyun right in the eyes. “How about we scratch that last part and start over?”

Daehyun was lost and the fact that Youngjae was looking at him all expectantly only made him worse.

Apparently, his confusion showed because the next thing he registered was Youngjae biting his bottom lip to prevent himself from laughing too loud in a public place where silence was valued. The said young man shook his head slightly and held up his camera to snap a picture.

Of him.

Him, as in Jung Daehyun.

There was no doubt about it.

“Bye Daehyunnie” Youngjae said and smiled broadly. “I’ll see you around.”

It was obvious right there and then, though Daehyun…

He was and will always be no match to this person.

***

“Wow, you got yourself a cunning ,” Himchan said through the phone as Daehyun sprawled himself all over the bed.

He had just told his friend about the incident in the library and naturally counted on the amazing Himchan for an appropriate reaction.

“Hyung, you should really lay down all the -ing” Daehyun turned to lie on his side and pressed the phone closer to his ear. “It could give you some really bad karma, you know.”

“Shut up. I’m trying to protect you from growing old all lonely and sad here. And I’ll tell you it’s not an easy task!”

Daehyun snickered while he pulled at some loose threads on the bedspreads. He let the line fall silent for a moment and awaited the second Himchan’d finally ask what he always asked: “So?”

“So what?” the younger sighed.

“What are you going to do of course!?” He could practically see Himchan flailing his arms in frustration.

“You tell me,” he mumbled

“Well, ask him out on a date.”

Daehyun buried his face into the mattress to muffle his groan. “No, it’s going to be a disaster,” he cried.

“Look, my Daenie.” He sighed when he could make out how Himchan was trying to be patient with him. “Either you ask him out, get a ‘yes’ and it’s all rainbows and pretty, get a ‘no’ and try to find yourself another sassy nerd or get stuck in this —“

“Did you just make some dramatic gesture despite knowing that I can’t see you?”

“Yes, you !” Daehyun lifted the phone off his ear for a few seconds before bringing it back. “My point is: you’ve got nothing to lose here so why not find the guy ask him out and get it over and done with? You’re not asking for his hand in marriage for god’s sake!”

“Fine.”

Perhaps he should give it a try.

“Fine?”

Or else he’d just rot in his own little world.

“You’re right.” He said and sounded more determined than he ever had before.

“I am?” Himchan sounded genuine shocked through the receiver. “Damn it, I should have recorded this. This is like a historical —“

“How should I do it?” Daehyun shifted for the nth time and now lied on his back.

“Ehhh…” his hyung’s raspy voice trailed out slowly. “I don’t know.”

Daehyun made these small kicks in the air with his feet in frustration. “Hyung, you have to know! I need you!”

“Just say it to his face, no, wait don’t do that. You’ll just end up saying something weird.” The older of the two suddenly snapped his fingers. “Buy him something nice or write him a note. Just do it like the movies! That’s like a foolproof and impossible to screw up.”

“What should I buy then?” he asked holding onto his phone like a lifeline.

“Daehyun,” the elder sighed. “I love you like the brother I never had, therefore… goodnight!” And then it clicked.

He threw the dead line to the side and buried himself under the covers.

‘Aish’

***

Daehyun tip toed all the way to the Art department and finally ended up outside the darkroom. He wasn’t sure Youngjae would be inside but he’d heard that Photography majors spent most of their time in the darkroom. Well, he wasn’t sure Youngjae was in Photography but… what else could he be?

The corridor was empty spared for a wandering soul or two and he was pacing back and forth with this heavy present in his hands. It seemed like a good idea just a couple of hours ago. But now that he was standing there it suddenly didn’t seem so brilliant and perfect anymore.

Actually, it seemed ridiculous.

Maybe he should leave the gift on the floor, knock and then run. Just like the old days. But what if Youngjae wasn’t, in fact anybody could come out of that door and oh god — that would be beyond embarrassing.

“Daehyun?”

He jumped and made what would seem like an unmanly squeak, but that’s what he was the least concerned about at the moment.

Youngjae was standing in front of him. The real one mind you and not this imaginary version he tried to project the night before to practice his screenplay.

Clearly he got all his lines messed up before they even started and could just stand there with his eyes impossibly wide and unblinking.

Youngjae closed the door behind him and just stood there smiling this incredibly sweet smile. “What are you doing here?”

‘Right, what was he doing there?’

He looked into Youngjae’s eyes and he sort of — “I forgot.”

“You forgot?” the smile on Youngaje’s lips shifted into a more amused one. “That’s not really good now is it?” He then noticed the thing in Daehyun’s hands and stared at it with a raised brow.

Daehyun looked down at the object in his hands and gasped. “I’m asking you out so this is for you!” He practically shoved it into Youngjae chest and waited for the other to take it.

True, it didn’t go as smoothly as one would have hoped, but at least context of the scene was the same as the one on paper. But that didn’t stop him from feeling horrible when Youngjae started laughing so hard he almost bent over and choked on his breath

It was a dreadful long minute before Youngjae was composed enough to take the thing off Daehyun’s hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. But you really got me there” he said cheerfully. “So you’re asking me out as in on a date?” there it was again, that smile a.k.a  Daehyun’s downfall. “And you’re giving me a pineapple?”

Daehyun squirmed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He couldn’t find it in him to look up at Youngjae and only nodded at the question.

“Hmm, I don’t know Daehyun. I think you might have to explain to me on this one.” he eyed the fruit quizzically but the smile never left his face.

“Well, I…” Daehyun rubbed the back of his neck and tried to fight down the blush creeping its way up his face. “I thought of buying you flowers, but the store was closed. So then I thought a cake or chocolate would be a good idea but then I remembered you didn’t order any cake when you were at the café so I thought maybe you didn’t like cakes or chocolate.” He glanced shyly at the other through his bangs and added, “So I went by the market and this reminded me of you.”

Youngjae nearly burst. “I’m a pineapple!?”

“What? No, no—“ Daehyun hopped on his feet in slight panic. “No! I mean, the lady said the pineapples were extra sweet today and that reminded me of you. Because I think that you are — well… sweet.”

‘Someone save me… please.’

“You sure thought about it thoroughly.  Got all the angles covered, don’t you” Youngjae chuckled as he fell back against the door and hugged the tropical fruit to his stomach. “I’m sure we‘ve all looked like a pineapple once or twice in our time.”

Daehyun couldn’t tell if he was being mocked or if the person before him was trying to make him feel better. But at the moment it felt all the same.

 “And I guess I should give you an answer—“

“No!” Daehyun exclaimed. “Not now. Please, think about it and give me one later.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure!” It was the only point he thought he could stand by without clumsily falling over. “If you reject me now then I probably won’t see you again. But if we leave it for another day then I’ll be able to see you one more time and the more we meet the more it will seem like fate…. And I’d really like to believe that, that this is fate I mean.”

‘You and I.’

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It's 2 pm here and my eyes can barely stay awake, stiil I wanted to post this. I hope there aren't too many mistakes and that you enjoyed this.

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last edit: 2014-04-22