The sun was just beginning to set by the time Taehyun was on his way home, carrying the bags containing a week’s worth of groceries and some random snacks he kept for late nights in one hand. Living alone meant he had to take care of everything in his daily life by himself, from the meals to household chores. Taehyun didn’t mind it for the most part; it’s a small price to pay for the freedom and personal space he’d always craved. It’s just that there are days when life leaves him mentally exhausted and wanting nothing but to fall messily into bed and maybe sleep for two days straight. It felt like one of those days today.

Taehyun walked slowly, paying no mind to the rest of the world rushing by him, until the sharp sound of a honk snapped him out of his semi-trance. He was just outside the turning that led into his apartment block, and there was a motorbike – presumably where the honk came from – parked right by the curb with someone leaning against it.

“Kang Seungyoon?” Taehyun breathed disbelievingly when he recognised the figure.

“Taehyun-ssi, you’re back.” Seungyoon stepped away from his bike and closer to Taehyun, hands in his pockets and an easy smile on his face.

“What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?” Taehyun frowned, giving Seungyoon a onceover.

The man was dressed in dark-washed jeans, a pair of Chuck Taylors on his feet and that same ill-fitting biker jacket that Taehyun had yet to see him lose. His hair was flat and unstyled, and his eyes were free of eyeliner. Kang Seungyoon looked just like your typical boy-next-door; there was nothing about him that exuded seduction or anything ual today, not in his gaze or his demeanour.

It felt quite unreal to see him standing here in natural daylight. In Taehyun’s mind, Kang Seungyoon belonged solely to the world of flashing lights, sweaty bodies and stuffy air in a dimly lit club, not out here on a bright sunny street right outside his apartment block. 

“I have my ways.” Seungyoon said with a half-smile and that unchanging frivolous attitude just ticks Taehyun off.

“I’m not in the mood to play games with you today, Seungyoon-ssi...” Taehyun sighed tiredly, rubbing his face with his free hand.

“Fine, your friend Mino gave me your address, okay? Apparently Seunghoon-hyung knows him or something.” Seungyoon shrugged. “Hey, for someone who asked me out, you certainly don’t seem too happy to see me.”

The roles between them seemed to have reversed today. Back in the club, Seungyoon was powerful; people wanted him, and Taehyun couldn’t help feeling like the lesser of the two because he was just one of the infinitely many choices Seungyoon had. But Taehyun belonged to these sunny streets, and he didn’t care if he had wanted Seungyoon before. He had been rejected and that should be the end of it. There was no reason for the other man to come around here and try to with that attitude.

Or maybe Taehyun was just too tired to give a about any of this – including his stupid plan to somehow get himself a boyfriend, all of it – right now.

“So, to what do I owe the honour of your visit? Since I think you’ve already made it pretty clear that you’re not interested in going out with me.” Taehyun asked, not without a hint of iciness in his tone. He made a mental note to give Mino a good kick in the shin the next time he sees his best friend for giving out his address to this Casanova despite already knowing how things went down between them.

“Yes, about that…” Seungyoon started but diverted his gaze away from Taehyun’s. He actually looked slightly nervous. “You see, I really had no choice but to ask for your address, because you never came back to the club and I don’t know how else to get a hold of you. I, uhm… I don’t suppose you’ve found someone else?”

“I’m sure you can find someone else.” That was the last thing Seungyoon had said to him before turning his back and leaving him in that alley: find someone else. And now he’s back asking if Taehyun had found that someone else, and why would he be asking unless..?

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Seungyoon nodded in an affirmative.

Taehyun just stared at him, his eyebrows raised and jaw nearly falling open in disbelief. It had been almost a week since his pseudo-confession in the alley beside the club, a week since he had been turned down by the man standing in front of him right now. Taehyun hadn’t wanted to return to look in a club again right away, deciding that he’d had quite enough of the loud music and alcohol and pointless late nights for a while.

Kang Seungyoon had been waiting for him to turn up, much like he had done in the nights prior to the confession? That didn’t even sound like sense; the mental image of a guy like Seungyoon sitting alone at the bar while glancing in the direction of the club entrance every half a minute, just waiting for a nobody like him to come through is laughable.

In all honesty, Taehyun knew it didn’t matter to Seungyoon whether he wanted him or not because the guy could easily find someone else who does and who would even give him the he wants, so Taehyun had taken the rejection in his stride and moved right on. The other half of his relationship did not have to be Kang Seungyoon, there was no need for Taehyun to chase after an unwilling party. In fact, he had just gone ahead and went on a lunch date with Mino’s friend after much persuasion from his best friend.

The guy was quite a dear, smart but abit on the quiet side, and so conversation between them kept grinding to a halt. It felt like him trying and failing to carry a conversation with the people in class all over again. It wasn’t even like he could just spring the confession he did with Seungyoon to this guy – he should really have at least remembered his name – on account of him being Mino’s friend and all, but Taehyun hadn’t felt a compelling urge to go on a second date with him.

“I agree to be your boyfriend, but I have a condition.” Seungyoon pulled his hands out of his pockets and finally looked at him.

“Condition?” Taehyun set the groceries down on the ground and swept his hair that had fallen into his eyes away carelessly. That sounded like an opening for a long discussion and he’s really starting to feel the weight of the bags.

“How about we continue the discussion over dinner? Maybe get to know each other a little?” Seungyoon offered, seeming to have noticed his weariness.

Taehyun’s mind was working in overdrive to decide if he should agree, or to say no and let this peculiar of fate between them come to an end. In the end, he decided to just it and go along with it. It’s not like he had anything to lose anyway.

“Okay. Just let me put these back home first.”

They ended up at a small eatery on a street corner in the neighbourhood where Taehyun often goes to when he’s too lazy or tired to cook for himself. They’d walked the way – since it was a short distance – in excruciating silence, with Taehyun wondering just what Kang Seungyoon is trying to pull the entire way. Why would he suddenly have a 180-degree change of heart when he couldn’t have been clearer that he wasn’t into serious relationships before?

“So,” Taehyun began while they were waiting for their food, “you’re agreeing to go out with me.”

“On one condition.” Seungyoon added on while toying with his chopsticks absentmindedly. Taehyun only nodded, signalling him to go on.

“You want me to provide you with companionship that of a boyfriend, but I’m not allowed to have with you. In exchange, you must not interfere in my night life. I will still go to clubs, and still have with other people as I wish. That is all.” Seungyoon looked at Taehyun and continued a bit uncertainly, “Can you accept that?”

Taehyun met his eyes, but remained silent in thought. Allowing his boyfriend to around with other people seemed a bit much, but truthfully, it’s not like their relationship was established on things like love or trust like all the others. It’s not like he would feel hurt or jealous about it either. It was a special relationship to begin with, and to some extent Taehyun was even kind of using Seungyoon for his own motives. Giving him the freedom to have with others… well, that much seemed fair enough.

“Deal.”

“Well then, let’s do this right from the top.” Seungyoon beamed, holding his hand out. “I’m Kang Seungyoon, 25. Nice to meet you.”

“Nam Taehyun, 25 too. Guess we’re friends then.” Taehyun smiled and gave Seungyoon’s hand a firm squeeze.

“You should smile more,” Seungyoon said, earning a confused look from the man sitting across him, “it looks good on you.”

Taehyun blushed furiously and looked down at the table. “You don’t have to use your flirting techniques on me, you know, since we are technically already together.”

“Just telling the truth.” Seungyoon shrugged, chuckling at Taehyun’s apparent shyness.

Dinner went by in a surprisingly enjoyable fashion. Taehyun had never been the best at conversations, – he had a tendency to answer in a very dead-end way that often makes it difficult to continue the conversation – but Seungyoon seemed to have endless questions for him, which saved them from lapsing into awkward silences. Taehyun had fun answering them too, since Seungyoon listened in a way that looked like he was receptive and genuinely interested in everything Taehyun had to say, nodding and asking questions here and there. Taehyun remembered how sick of life he had been feeling earlier in the day, and it was funny how Kang Seungyoon, of all people, was the one to turn it all around.

By the end of dinner, they knew each other’s birthdays, favourite colours, general interests, and so on. Seungyoon, who was a few months older, was trying to get Taehyun to call him hyung but only earned himself a few playful eyerolls from the younger. Taehyun also learned that, unlike himself, Seungyoon did not attend university, but instead worked day shifts at a restaurant and bartends at night at a high-end bar in Gangnam. He spends whatever nights he has off at the club.

They were strolling back to Taehyun’s apartment, the younger talking about something about school, when he felt a thinner, warmer hand close around his. Out of reflex, he jerked his hand out of Seungyoon’s, feeling quite alarmed. He knew he shouldn’t be, considering their relationship, but he had really been caught completely off-guard.

“Why?” Seungyoon chuckled, “I can do this, right? I’m your boyfriend.” He said and slowly reached for Taehyun’s hand again.

This time, Taehyun let him take it.

It felt odd, having someone else’s hand in his own again after all these years. Seungyoon’s hand felt unfamiliar, and their fingers didn’t exactly fit together perfectly, but still Seungyoon held his hand firmly, lightly swinging it between them as they continued on their way. That warmth, and that gentle pressure coming from another person’s hand… Taehyun’s heart was pounding a little harder than it had in a while. He had truly forgotten what this feels like.

“Why… why did you change your mind?” Taehyun finally asked when they entered the lift in his apartment building. It had been on his mind the whole time, but he wasn’t quite sure if it is something he should ask. Seungyoon had waited for him to go back to the club, and when he didn’t, even went through all the trouble of finding out where he lived through Seunghoon and then Mino. Why?

“Why did you pick me?” Seungyoon glanced at him with cocked brows, smoothly evading the question by counter-asking Taehyun another one. There was a brief silence as Taehyun was taken aback by the sudden question.

“Because you’re a cocksure bastard.” He muttered, looking away. He wasn’t going give Seungyoon an ego boost if that was what the other man had been hoping for, but the latter only laughed.

“Is that what you told that best friend of yours? Is that why he was so reluctant to give me your address?”

“He was?” Taehyun asked, amused.

“Yeah, I had to practically beg him for it! And when he finally gave it to me, you know what he told me?” Seungyoon was grinning and shaking his head as he recalled the conversation. “He said he’ll whip my skinny if I tried anything funny with you.”

Taehyun laughed loudly; he could just imagine Mino saying that to Seungyoon. Maybe he didn’t need to give his best friend that kick to the shin after all.

They stopped in front of Taehyun’s doorstep.

“Well then, from today...” Seungyoon held up their joined hands with a smile that Taehyun would grudgingly admit was quite cute. “It’s our Day 1.”

A.N.: I'm sorry for the long wait, this was a bit hard to write;; I had it sitting in my drafts for a long time because it just felt too inadequate to post, but I'm just going to go ahead and post it anyway. This is where the story starts to pick up, now that they are together. 

I'm going to stop writing for a while after this, since I have my finals coming up I need to get to studying. The next update probably wouldn't come in 1 or 2 months... I'm sorry but thank you all for the support so far! The subscriptions, comments and upvotes. I love reading all of your comments, but I'm sorry because I kinda at replying heh >_<

The quality of this chapter is not stellar, but I really hope you enjoyed this! Thank you all again! :))))