Watching Hakyeon dance was like watching water flow over hands, rolling without interruption, but it was also so much more. As his feet found and lost their purchase on the ground over and over, pressing off his toes and sinking into each step that he took, he looked like fire twisting up from a single source, fluidly moving each joint and every part of him in a way that Hongbin would only describe as flawless. The power that Hakyeon channeled into his movements was almost terrifying, but his eyes were alive and his face was smooth and collected. Hongbin would never be able to describe it to anyone else, because it seemed god-like, the way that the elf’s hands flew and how his waist seemed to have become something less than bone, much more malleable.

            He had heard legends about the wild dances that were held outside of the city, but nothing he ever imagined would have come close to this. Watching it was almost like remembering how to breathe after drowning, or that’s how Hongbin felt. He’d heard a fairytale once that when you met the right person, time would stop and if it started moving again when you looked at them then you were destined to fall in love. Hongbin had never believed much in fairytales and made up stories, but standing there, watching Hakyeon dance through space, it felt like time had not only stopped, but simply ceased to exist, like he could spend forever in that one moment.

            Another elf entered the ring, and Hakyeon slowed to a stop and bowed, leaving the ring, but Hongbin was stuck where he was, watching Hakyeon connect eyes with him and smile, eyes curving up into half-moons as he approached Hongbin.

            “What’d you think?”

            Hongbin had no idea how to respond, but he felt like he should do something, Hakyeon was waiting for him to say something. Nothing seemed to feel right though, and it all just didn’t capture what he’d watched. His mind was struggling, and Hakyeon was still looking at him, and so Hongbin did the only thing that made sense to him at the moment, which was to pull him towards him and kissing him hard, which Hakyeon made a small sound of surprise at. After a couple of seconds, he pulled back and laughed.

            “I’ll take that as a ‘yes Hakyeon, it was really good and I enjoyed it’.”

            An elf pulled at Hakyeon’s arm and started speaking to him fast in what Hongbin had come to realize was just Elvish. The other elf was laughing, and pointed across the space at a group of taller elves that were staring at Hakyeon, who waved. One of them waved back but the others didn’t react. The elf who was talking to Hakyeon looked at Hongbin and kept talking, with Hakyeon nodding, and then smiling wide and responding, just as melodic and fast. Hongbin just watched the exchange.

            Hakyeon put his hand on the other elf’s shoulder, and nodded at her again, saying something that Hongbin figured equated to goodbye, because the elf smiled at him and bowed, before turning on her foot and rejoining a different group. Hakyeon turned back to Hongbin, and grabbed his hand.

            “Better get you home, it’s almost morning.”

            “It’s that late?” Hongbin was surprised at how late it was, they had only left the restaurant at what, 7? Hakyeon laughed at him.

            “It’s pretty easy to get lost, isn’t it?” He pulled on him again, heading away from the dance area and the other elves that were gathered around, getting quieter as time went on. A couple of the elves that they passed lightly smacked Hakyeon on the shoulder, grinning at him. Hakyeon looked like he might be blushing, but it could also just be the lights. Hongbin finally recognized the path that they had come down, and saw the tree with Hakyeon’s house appear out of the surrounding forest.

            “What happened, back there? Who were those other elves that were looking at you?” Hakyeon glanced sideways at him.

            “Oh, they were just some of the members of my family when I was younger. We don’t really talk anymore, though, and since I don’t come out over here very often, they must’ve just been surprised to see me.”

            “Really?”

            Hakyeon looked away from him.

            “Hmm, yeah.”

            Hongbin still felt like there was something else, but Hakyeon obviously didn’t want to talk about it, whatever it was. They reached the house, and Hakyeon let them in through the door to his room. He didn’t say much else while he led Hongbin back to the front door, handing him his jacket. Then he smiled at Hongbin, putting his hands on his shoulders.

            “Thanks for coming out with me tonight, I’m glad you could come.”

            “It was…” Hongbin grasped for words again. “Amazing.” Hakyeon’s smile widened.

            “I have to say, I’d like to take you back sometime. Maybe show you some more of my favorite old places, if you would want to.” Hongbin nodded.

            “That sounds good, I’d love to go.”

            Hakyeon let him go, and took a half step back.

            “I’ll see you ten minutes to six, then?” Hongbin laughed.

            “I guess so.”

            Hakyeon was quiet for a second, chewing on his lip again. He looked up at Hongbin, and leaned back towards him until he lightly pressed his lips to Hongbin’s.

            “Thanks again. Now, you better get going, if you hurry you might be able to get some sleep before you have to work.”

            Hongbin just nodded, and stepped out the door, looking over his shoulder to wave at Hakyeon, who was turning away, and Hongbin noticed his face fall slightly, and almost went back, but shook himself and headed home instead.

            He was definitely even more tired at work, and the owner of the shop was supposed to visit, so he had to organize as much as he could before he arrived. Hyuna was busy too, so she wasn’t able to pester him with incessant questions about how the night had gone. When the elderly owner finally showed up, the store looked better than it had for several weeks, even if it was still kind of a mess. The boss had nothing to say though, just walked around for a little while and checked around the back and basement, and then he left.

            As soon as the door closed, Hongbin leaned against the counter and yawned. Hyuna was quick on the attack, though.

            “Hey! So, how was it? You’re tired again, how late were you out? Where’d you go? Did you just have dinner or did you go somewhere else?” Hongbin squinted at her.

            “It was good, really good, actually.” Her eyes widened and her face lit up.

            “You never say that about anything, what happened? Oooh, you better tell me what happened, Bean.” He shrugged at her.

            “We had dinner, which was delicious, and then went back to his house-“

            “You did what???”

            “We went back to his house, and he made tea, and showed me around,” Hongbin paused, trying to figure out how to talk about it without telling her what really happened. “And then we just passed the time talking, I guess, and I lost track of time, so it was really late when I was able to leave.” Hyuna narrowed her eyes at him.

            “What else happened?” He feigned innocence.

            “Nothing else, really.” She pursed her lips.

            “Hmm.” With that, she just told him to stand up straighter and to greet the woman who was coming through the door.

            When Hongbin’s break came up, he wondered if he should go to the bakery again, and if Hakyeon would be there. Would he want to see him? Hongbin couldn’t think of why not, but a part of him was still a little anxious. He stood in the middle of the break room for a couple of minutes, before deciding that he would go over, and if Hakyeon was there he would stay and if not he would come right back over.

            This time, when he walked in, the girl at the counter greeted him by name, and told him to go ahead and take a seat, she would let Hakyeon know he was here. So the elf was there, probably just in the kitchen with Taekwoon. After a couple of moments, he popped out of the door to the kitchen, and hugged Hongbin, telling him that he had been waiting, and that Taekwoon was just working on a new batch of pastries, would he want to come back and watch? Hongbin just nodded and followed him back.

            The kitchen smelled delicious, and it was warm. It wasn’t very bright, but there were lights on above the oven, and a small window. Taekwoon was standing at the big island in the middle, rolling some dough between his hands, and he looked up when Hakyeon burst in, Hongbin in tow.

            “Hello, Hongbin.”

            “Uh, hey, Taekwoon.”

            “He’s making croissants right now, oh, it’s so fun to watch him fold them. Here, Hongbin, come sit by me, I’ll get you a fresh one, just a second.” Hakyeon snuck around Taekwoon and snatched one out of the pile of steaming croissants, earning himself a glare from Taekwoon, which Hakyeon promptly ignored. He bounced the flaky pastry between his hands as he walked back over to the two chairs that he had sitting in the corner, handing it to Hongbin. “It’s hot, careful.”

            Hakyeon dropped it into Hongbin’s hands, and he balanced it between his fingers, waiting for it to cool down.

            “How’s your day going? I’ve done nothing all day, Taekwoon hasn’t even let me eat one yet, how rude.” Hongbin laughed.

            “I haven’t don’t a whole lot more, than. We just had to clean up before a visit from our boss, which of course took the entire morning. I haven’t been able to sit down all day until right now.” He lifted the croissant up to his mouth, humming. “It’s good, here, try it.” He offered some of it to Hakyeon, earning a delighted look from the elf and a sigh from the cat. Hongbin still couldn’t quite get his head around the whole cat-to-person thing, but it didn’t really bother him.

            “He’s being a grump, he didn’t get enough sleep, and didn’t eat enough for breakfast, even though I told him that it would be fine.”

            “We were already running late, Hakyeon, it wasn’t my fault that you were napping too late.”

            Hakyeon stuck his tongue out at the chef, who just turned away from him.

            “Anyways, Hongbin, you look exhausted, you should definitely get more sleep tonight.”

            “Okay, but it definitely wasn’t my fault that we were out late.” Hongbin pointed the end of the croissant he had in his hand at Hakyeon.

            “Um, I could argue that, you were the one who was taking up all of my time.”

            Hongbin sighed dramatically and looked to Taekwoon.

            “Taekwoon, how do you even put up with this all day? It’s hard enough to just have ten minutes, I can’t imagine all day.” Taekwoon’s shoulders shook in what Hongbin was going to assume was his way of laughing, and Hakyeon punched Hongbin in the shoulder.

            “I’ll have you know that Taekwoon really appreciates my company, even if he’d never tell you.” Taekwoon scoffed at him, but Hakyeon just ignored him and turned back to Hongbin.

            “I’m glad you made it home okay, it was pretty late. Or early? I don’t know.”

            “Yeah, it was pretty quiet.” Hongbin paused, chewing on his pastry.

            “Hey, Hakyeon, do you want to come to dinner with me this time? There’s a restaurant by my house that I’ve been wanting to go to.”

            Hakyeon’s face lit up.

            “I’d love to!”

wow this one is longer and we hit 20k words in total!!! amazing

i've never written this much on one thing at all ever and much less in like two weeks.

ummm i still dont know what im doing romance wise but im kinda developing a story story

i think i will end it as just a love story but i might start another story with an actual plot line in the same universe!! so this will be like a stand alone fic and then if you want you can choose to read the plotted out story!

also im debating how much physical affection to show?? i dunno?? opinions? i dont want to go overboard with it and romance hasnt ever been my forte

i don't really have a whole lot to say about this one so um

but it was hard for me to properly channel my appreciation of hakyeon's dancing into this

i should rename this "win talks a whole lot about how beautiful and wonderful hakyeon is" bc thats about what it is

i always seem to post chapters at the weirdest times

oh well

thanks for reading, subscribing and commenting!

~Win