It was a rainy Saturday night and The Spices was absolutely packed. Sharply dressed waiters and waitresses nimbly moved about the restaurant attending to immaculately dressed customers, laughter and chatters were heard from the tables drowning the soft music played to enhance the romantic mood, tableware clinked against each other completing the harmony of the opulent restaurant. 


In the middle of it was a young man with a bright orange hair – “you look like a bloody carrot, Seung, seriously” – plate still half full, wine bottle nine-tenth empty, and an expression beyond bored. He waved gracefully to one of the waiters and whispered, “Can I talk to your chef?” To which the waiter nodded and made his way to the kitchen.


Almost immediately, a well-built young man with black hair in a chef uniform appeared from the kitchen and approached Hyunseung. There were hushed murmurs of adoration from the tables as they scanned the handsome young chef who had brought fame and adulation upon the establishment. 


Hyunseung eyes lit up when he spotted him. 


“How can I help you tonight, Sir?” The voice was gentle but stern, detached and professional. Hyunseung gazed into the chef’s brown orbs, “Your Cog au Vin , I even need a bottle of wine to force half of it down my poor throat.” 


The chef raised an eyebrow on the harsh comment, and Hyunseung’s expression instantly softened, “I like your 김치찌개 (kimchi jjigae) better, Junhyung-ah,” a sweet smile bloomed on Hyuseung’s lips. Junhyung quirked a smirk and chuckled, “My Cog au Vin never because I work for Doojoon, and aren’t you supposed to be on your way to the club?” 


Hyunseung nodded, “I planned to meet Doojoon in his office upstairs but Yoseob was there. On Doojoon’s lap,” Hyunseung shrugged and grinned at Junhyung, “and I missed you anyways.” 


Junhyung furrowed his eyebrows at the statement, “Yoseob was on Doojoon’s lap? What are – “ 


Hyunseung cut him off, “They were only making out, no big deal.” 


“But making out is the first step to – “


“Can’t you just let Yoseob be?” Hyunseung’s tone was slightly higher, “He is a grown man and he knows the consequences of his own actions, you should stop making decisions for him. He has Doojoon now, and whatever they are doing is none of our business. None of your business.” Hyunseung stared at Juhyung, his gaze hard and piercing. 


Junhyung stared back in bewilderment; he wanted to believe his thoughts right now. He wanted so bad to believe his thoughts right now. 


He wanted to believe that Hyunseung was actually jealous. 


“You should practice knocking and stop abusing your knowledge of Doojoon’s password,” Junhyung briefly brushed his knuckles on Hyunseung’s cheek, “I‘ll see you later at home.” He turned to walk away but looked back and pointed at the food, “On the house.” 


Hyunseung pouted at Junhyung, “Damn, I should have ordered the appetizer and the desserts.” Junhyung laughed heartily on his way back to the kitchen. 



Dongwoon squatted in front of the English course building, gazing far into the water that dropped endlessly from the gloriously gloomy sky, a big umbrella in one hand. He checked his watch, should be in a few minutes more.


A tap on his shoulder and he smiled to himself. He stood up to see Kikwang beaming at him, the ray of light that brightened the dark sky, with the perfect white teeth and sincere eye smiles.


“Been waiting long?” Kikwang asked. “Nah, hyung. I was busy thinking of you, I lost track of time,” the younger grinned at Kikwang who scrunched his nose up in obvious disgust over the cheesy line. 


Dongwoon took off his jacket and put it over Kikwang, “We are sharing umbrella, you’ll get wet.” Kikwang giggled at the younger’s thoughtful gesture and said playfully, “I should get an older boyfriend who can drive, and I won’t be out in the rain anymore.” 


“I can get my driver to drive us too!” Dongwoon retorted defensively, “But where is the romantic in that? Isn’t this nice, walking in the rain, sharing an umbrella, lending you my jacket, holding hands – “


“Get my shoes wet because of the puddle of water, get my shoulders wet and my hair frizzy because the way you hold umbrella , get a cold because of the rain. It is indeed very romantic.” Kikwang layered the sarcasm with his sweetest smile.


Dongwoon grinned at the elder, totally unfazed by the sarcasm remark and pulled Kikwang close to him by the shoulder, “Ah, isn’t this nice.” Kikwang chuckled and let Dongwoon wrap his hand on his shoulders and pulled him closer.


It was a nice walk. It was comfortable and warm, because Kikwang was with Dongwoon. And Kikwang started to wonder how it would feel without Dongwoon, without his smile, his voice, his touch, his cheesy lines and totally-funny-ha-ha-ha-I’m-laughing-so-hard-here lame jokes, without his warmth, his attention. But Kikwang ought to tell him, to be honest with him, and hoped that they could still be together.


“Hyung, hyung,” Dongwoon shook Kikwang gently, “Hyung, you blanked out on me.” Kikwang blinked his eyes a few times to regain his composure and looked up at Dongwoon, “Sorry, I was just thinking about other things.”


“You wanna share with me?” Dongwoon grinned at Kikwang and it sliced through his heart. Kikwang pulled his head down, staring at the pavement they were walking on, “Yeah, actually Dongwoon-ah, I need to tell you something.” Dongwoon nodded, “Uh-huh.”


“I need to move away soon,” the mere whisper was drowned out by the sound of rain. “What, hyung? Sorry I didn’t catch that.”


The elder looked up at Dongwoon, “Dongwoonah, you know I’m a mixologist, right?” the younger nodded, “I received an offer from one of the best bars in the world.” Dongwoon smiled even wider, “Wow, hyung. That’s awesome!” The happiness was overflowing on the younger’s face and Kikwang died inside.


Kikwang hung his head down, looking at the pavement once again, could not bear looking at Dongwoon’s excited face, “And because of that I need to move away soon for an undecided period.” Dongwoon nodded, “Okay, when are you moving out? I’ll ask my dad’s men to help you move things and settle to your new place.” Kikwang started to tremble in the younger’s arm, “Dongwoonah, I’m moving so far away.”


Dongwoon furrowed his eyebrows, confusion obvious on his handsome features, “….okay, where to?”


“England.” 


Dongwoon stepped on a deep puddle of water that he wanted to avoid, but he could not feel the wetness of the cold water permeating into his Converse shoes. He saw Kikwang dragging him out of the water, but could not feel himself moving. He saw Kikwang’s mouth opening and closing to form sentences, but his ears refused to let him hear anything at all. He wanted to ask, but his mouth refused to open up. He wanted to breathe but his lungs stopped working.


So, Dongwoon thought, this must be how dying felt like.


Hyunseung was sitting on one of the bar stools in his club. His eyes scanned the perimeter, seeing nothing but wild lust and youthful fervor. Crowded was an understatement, the club was b to the corners, and the lines outside of the club kept getting longer and longer. 


Hyunseung shook his head in amazement at the scene in front of him. He was part of this when he was younger, but he was bored of it quickly, craving for more, for better, for wilder, for crazier. Until he met Yong Junhyung. Hyunseung smiled at himself and was too immersed in his thoughts to realize that the music went off and a man with short, flawlessly styled black hair and a childish smirk went onto the stage.


The music went off in the club and there were clamors of complaints, but before it got brutal and violent, a soft voice boomed through the loud speakers, filling up the space, “This is your boy GD and I am here for a short preview.” There were excited shouts of “ yeah GD”, “ma badass boy GD”, some whistles and murmurs of approval. Obviously Jiyong was extremely popular in his own right. 


“This is gonna be a short preview unless the owner of this club agrees to go out with me and you guys will get your continuous Saturday sessions,” GD chuckled lightly on the microphone and the crowd went insane, clapping their hands, even chanting “go out with him, go out with him”, and Hyunseung subconsciously wrinkled his nose in annoyance. 


“So here ya go!” And with that, music started blaring loudly from the speakers, and Jiyong was busy with his own electronic devices, nodding occasionally to the beat, clicking away on the laptop, and adjusting some buttons. The crowd went wilder, crazier, lustier, and Hyunseung could wager his off that the crowd will be asking for Jiyong next Saturday. .


After what seemed like an eternity, Jiyong finally stepped down from the stage and quickly scanned the room to find Hyunseung. He approached the younger quickly with a childish smile on his face, “So how was my performance?”


Hyunseung smiled politely, “The crowd loved it, I bet they even thought that the music going off was part of the show. Very well-played.” 


Jiyong pouted at Hyunseung, “Do you like it?” Hyunseung grinned at him, “Of course.”


The pout got deeper, “You were not home on Thursday.”


“I was out.”


“With your boyfriend?”


Hyunseung nodded, “Yep.” Jiyong stayed quiet.


Hyunseung pulled out a card and wrote down a name and contact number on it, “Jiyong-shi, please call her and make an appointment to see her. She is my secretary and she will be able to provide you with the cheque for your performance tonight.” 


Jiyong took the card and read it briefly before putting it on the table and grinned widely at Hyunseung, “I love the crowd here and the expressions on your face when I played. I will be coming back next week too, just consider it as a wooing effort from me.”


Hyunseung raised his eyebrows and laughed his first sincere laugh since they met. Jiyong chuckled at the adorableness in front of him, he felt that Hyunseung’s defensive wall was crumbling down bit by bit, “I will drop by one day to your place without your knowledge and we will go out. Have dinner, watch movies, anything at all. It’ll be fun.”


Hyunseung grinned at him and said dismissively, “Yeah, yeah, sure,” before feeling a sudden softness on his right cheek. His eyes widened when Jiyong suddenly kissed him and he was not prepared for it at all. Jiyong pulled away as fast as he planted the kiss and skipped out of the club, waving his hand to Hyunseung, “It would be on the lips next time!” 


And Hyunseung wondered. He wondered why he had no urge to slap or scream at Jiyong’s face, to kick him on the stomach, to knee his groin, to pull out his hair, to break his nose, or to twist his hand behind his back and pressed his face to the bar.


He wondered why he felt slightly okay with it.