Taeil had laughed when Jiho suggested they go out together on a date, laughed and made a joke to hide behind because he didn’t like the way his gut immediately suggested this was just some cruel prank, even when his reaction caused the other man’s own smile to falter before he joked right back.

It was a week later that Jiho asked again, this time phrasing the question so that it was just two friends getting out of their homes to stretch their legs and hang out, and so, even with that same anxious tugging in his stomach, Taeil agreed.

It wasn’t until Jiho laced their fingers together as they walked through the aquarium tunnel that the uneasy feeling disappeared—only to be replaced by extremely vicious butterflies.