The last time Himchan saw Yongguk, he was at the airport, dragging along his luggage towards the gate when he saw a familiar gummy smile among the crowds of tourists. Himchan was on his way to New York then, chasing after his long kept dream to live in the eventful city—of course to search for jobs too since his savings wasn’t enough to keep him alive for a long time. He’d hesitated to walk up to Yongguk and greet him. He was still trapped in the past, he figured. Too much memories going on. He wasn’t one to cling on such things but when it came to Yongguk, he found it hard to do so. Yongguk looked fine to him, from far away. Maybe a little bit thinner. The man with messy hair was heading towards a café with his friend—Himchan knew that hyung, he was the man who helped Yongguk composed music at the studio.

He wondered where Yongguk was going. He was about to ask him but then he stopped in his tracks. No, he told himself. They’d gone their separate ways, better to move on.

And so he made his decision that moment, to turn back and walk through the gate, never taking a glance towards Yongguk because he didn’t need to remind himself that Yongguk had worth more than his life long time ago.

That was two years ago, Himchan noted. Now, sitting in a café in New York City, he’d managed to land a decent job as a street photographer and found his dream apartment—although the view was facing a back alley but he wasn’t going to complain because apparently the cost to live in New York was ing high!

He’d made friends too at work and one of them was a Korean, just like him. His name was Jonghyun. The man used to play in a band, performing at the street with his fellow band mates. They’d gone strong for a while because the people loved them but then their vocalist decided to head back to Korea to live with his family. Jonghyun had told Himchan that the vocalist had a bit of a problem regarding his family and that his mother had come to New York once to bring him back. In the end, he worked it out with his family and thus, returning to his homeland. Since the vocalist was no longer in the band, they decided to disband. Jonghyun started searching for other jobs, being a waiter and delivery boy. He didn’t like the job so he stopped and one day he found an ad from a small company. It was about photography and so he wasted no time and went for an interview. He worked there for three years and then Himchan appeared.

To Himchan, Jonghyun was quite an attractive guy. He looked a bit like foreigner himself despite denying that he wasn’t mixed. He was nice too. He’d always accompanied Himchan whenever he went out for lunch. Sometimes he would treat him for movies and dinner.

Himchan knew Jonghyun had feelings for him. It was obvious because the man had once confessed that he liked being with him and not to mention that he always had his arm around him when they walked down the street. Jonghyun could be touchy at times but Himchan disregarded the matter because he wanted to believe that Jonghyun acted like that around everyone he knew. Himchan wasn’t sure whether he wanted to build a new relationship. He thought he wasn’t ready.

Too preoccupied by his thoughts, Himchan didn’t see the man entering the café. The bell chimed and the cashier greeted him. Himchan still had his eyes gazing down at the cup of coffee in his hands. It wasn’t until the man called out his name that Himchan lifted his head, lips parted as he started recognizing the man he thought he’d forgotten.

“Wow, I can’t believe it,” the man chuckled, looking a bit shy but he had that gummy smile on his face. The smile struck Himchan hard in the chest and he almost forgot to breathe for a moment. “How long-”

“Two years,” Himchan answered, knowing what he was about to ask him. “It’s quite a surprise to see you here, Yongguk.”

Yongguk shoved his hands into the pockets of his black pants—Himchan ignored how attractive he looked in those pants matched with his white button down—and shrugged. He stood before the table where Himchan was sitting at, looking awkward.

“I’ve been traveling,” he said, still smiling.

Himchan nodded slightly, giving Yongguk the same expression. He stirred the coffee, thinking for a moment before he decided to offer Yongguk a seat. The said man looked like he was going to decline but then something flashed in his eyes and he sat down, thanking Himchan.

Himchan wondered what he was thinking about. He couldn’t even comprehend why he’d asked Yongguk to sit down with him. He should’ve let him go and waved goodbye. Himchan wanted to stab himself with a fork for acting on impulse. Now he was going to regret for what he did, he was convinced of it.

“I thought you were traveling with you friend.”

Yongguk raised his eyebrows, looking surprised that Himchan knew who he’d been with. On the other hand, Himchan screamed inwardly, banging his head against an imaginary wall because he’d obviously been caught red handed.

“Yeah, Junho hyung was with me for a while but then he went back.” Yongguk replied. He then tilted his head sideways, giving Himchan a curious look. “How did you know?”

If Himchan was stupid enough, he would’ve run outside and let himself get knocked over by a car or a truck, yeah that’s better, but he knew he was smart. He wouldn’t let himself be embarrassed by a small thing, it wasn’t small!

“Your Instagram,” He said, hiding the blush on his cheeks by holding the coffee closer to his lips. He sipped on it for a long time, praying that Yongguk wouldn’t notice how flustered he was.

“Oh.”

Seriously? An ‘oh’ was the only reply he got from him? Himchan frowned but then fixed his posture. He shouldn’t be sensitive about this. He had nothing to do with Yongguk’s feelings or how he was going to reply—because Himchan wasn’t the kind of person who’d been hoping that maybe he would get some kind of reaction from Yongguk that he’d been keeping an eye on him, he’s a stalker!

Himchan slapped himself on the face mentally, maintaining a calm expression on the outside as he smiled at Yongguk. He stirred the coffee once again, finding it hard to not move around when Yongguk was sitting in front of him.

“So, where are you heading to after this?” Himchan made it sound casual but he really was curious about Yongguk’s next destination.

“Prague, maybe.” Yongguk shrugged once more. Himchan had liked Yongguk’s nonchalant attitude before but now seeing him acting all lackadaisical somehow irritated him. “What about you? How are you settling down in New York?”

“I’m a photographer now, well…for a small company, not much.”

“That’s great!” Yongguk beamed all of the sudden, but then he chuckled embarrassedly and leaned back in his seat. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms. “I mean it’s good that you get to live here since you know, you’ve always wanted to be here.”

Himchan nodded, blinking awkwardly at Yongguk’s odd behaviour. Before he could come up with a random question—just for the sake of being polite or catching up, not like he cared what Yongguk was doing with his life—his phone vibrated in his pocket. He held up a hand to sign Yongguk that he was going to take the call and the latter waved dismissively, taking his time to order himself a drink as Himchan answered the call.

“Oh, Jonghyun?”

From the corner of his eyes, Himchan could see Yongguk glancing his way from the counter. Himchan lowered his tone and chuckled when Jonghyun told him that he wanted to take him out for a dinner tonight.

“Dinner? Ah well…” Himchan took a surreptitious glance towards Yongguk and indeed the said man was still looking his way.

Himchan pretended that he didn’t notice Yongguk’s eyes on him and scratched at his head. Sure, having dinner with Jonghyun sounded amazing right now because apparently he was starting to get hungry but then there was Yongguk…

“Um, maybe tomorrow night?”    

Jonghyun had agreed although Himchan could hear a hint of disappointment from him. He felt a bit guilty but hey, it was his choice anyway to have dinner with anyone he wanted. And right now he was thinking of maybe asking Yongguk…wait, what the hell was he thinking? Himchan shook his head and put his phone back into his pocket when he saw Yongguk coming back with his drink.

He unconsciously fixed his hair and crossed his legs elegantly when Yongguk sat down in front of him. Both of them were silent for a moment. Himchan was starting to feel nervous because Yongguk looked so relaxed and peaceful while he couldn’t think of what to do or ask him. Seriously though, how the can he be so calm?

By the time Himchan had finished his coffee, he contemplated on telling Yongguk that he was going back home but then the latter stopped him by speaking up first.

“Hey, wanna have a drink later?”

Himchan almost gawked at the question. Did Yongguk just ask him out? What the hell was he doing? How was he supposed to react to this?

“Uh…I don’t know,” Himchan kept on blinking—he wished he didn’t look so stupid right now.

“Or maybe dinner? My treat.”

Bingo.

Wait, . He swore he wasn’t hoping for that.

“Sure.”

Himchan thought that his brain wasn’t working properly anymore. He was acting the opposite way. He figured that now was the right time to look for a psychiatrist. He wanted to curse his entire existence because he knew he would really, really, really regret ever accepting Yongguk’s offer.

And well, he was 50% right.

Waking up with a headache wasn’t what Himchan was expecting that morning. He took his time opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling, noting that he was indeed in his apartment. He scrunched up his face, trying to remember what happened last night.

Oh yeah, he had dinner with Yongguk. Bang Yongguk.

He gasped and covered his mouth, mind still searching for last night’s memory. Yes, he remembered going to a fancy restaurant with Yongguk. They had a decent conversation to catch up with each other and they even laughed together—Himchan’s heart skipped a beat remembering that part—and then Yongguk ordered a bottle of wine, a ing expensive one. They clunk their glasses together and drank. A lot. Himchan thought so.

They finished their dinner and Himchan wanted to go home but then Yongguk asked him to go to Central Park with him because he hadn’t been there before. Himchan had agreed drunkenly and then it started getting blurry. Himchan chewed on his bottom lip, trying to squeeze out the memory. God, how frustrating to not remember clearly.

A groan coming from his side startled Himchan. When he looked to his right side he almost screamed but his hands were fast enough to contain it. Yongguk was there. He was lying beside him, sleeping. Himchan thought he was going to bring back a box of fried chicken last night since he’d been craving for one for a long time but apparently he’d brought home a snoring bear in a form of Bang Yongguk.

A mixture of profanities ran through Himchan’s head as he tried breathing properly. He peeked under the duvet and groaned. , . He’s not wearing anything and so was Yongguk. He covered his eyes with his arms; he wanted to switch lives with the mattress so bad because he found no other reason to embarrass himself more.

Last night’s memory appeared out of nowhere and Himchan gasped once more. He remembered unlocking the door to his apartment, giggling like a hyena. He’d stumbled on the floor but Yongguk caught him. They stared at each other and Himchan burst out laughing, commenting on Yongguk’s serious face. Yongguk cut off his silly laugh with a kiss and then he was backed up against the wall, in satisfaction. The next thing he knew, there was touching, more kissing and nibbling, lying on the bed, calling out Yongguk’s name in different pitches and seeing Yongguk’s form, oh God.

Yongguk shifted by his side and when he looked at the said man, he squealed internally because Yongguk looked so irresistible right now with his hair messed up in the right way and his lips possessing a magnet’s ability. He wanted to say something but Yongguk was giving him a sleepy smile and it was blinding him. He wasn’t aware that Yongguk was leaning closer to him, only realizing it when he felt arms circling his waist, bringing him closer to Yongguk.

And then Yongguk was kissing him. It was a long kiss. Himchan almost lost his oxygen supply but Yongguk pulled away at the right time. Himchan stared at him with wide eyes, red lips parted slightly. Yongguk chuckled, his spine as if he was a cat.

“You okay?”

Himchan kept on staring at him like he was a new species he’d found on earth. Yongguk looked worried so he waved a hand in front of his face.

“Okay,” Himchan squeaked.

Yongguk let out a deep laugh, his bare shoulders shaking. He then gazed into Himchan’s eyes, once again wearing that same serious look he had on his face last night.

“I lied,” Yongguk confessed. Himchan blinked at him, his head still rebooting. “I’ve been to Central Park before. I mean, I already went to New York…last year. And I saw you at the park taking pictures. I wanted to greet you but I was a coward. Then I went to Paris, Zürich, Dublin…and eventually here, again.”

“You saw me? At the park?” Himchan cleared his throat. He needed to drink but listening to Yongguk’s explanation was more important right now.

“I knew you were already in New York and I was just trying out my luck.” Yongguk shrugged, avoiding Himchan’s eyes when a blush crept to his cheeks. “And I kinda stalked your Instagram. So yeah, I know a little bit of what you’re doing.”

Himchan was speechless.

He had no idea how to react to Yongguk’s confession so he sat up on the bed, dropping his legs to the floor to slip his feet into a pair of slippers.

“I-I’m just gonna go to the kitchen and uh…make breakfast.”

“Breakfast is not really our choice right now,” there was a hint of amusement in Yongguk’s voice and Himchan craned his neck to look at him curiously. “It’s 4 in the evening, Himchan.”

Himchan stared at the clock on the bedside table and gasped. They’d overslept? How long did they have-

Shaking his head, Himchan got off the bed and put on his clothes, blushing madly at the remembrance of their wild activities the previous night. He was about to leave the room when Yongguk reached out for his wrist and turned him around.

“I’ve waited for three years to approach you. The first time was the day after we broke up, the second one that time when I went to the Central Park and saw you. And well, the third time was yesterday. I guess I keep on delaying for a year to the next one.”

“What are you trying to say Yongguk?”

Himchan already knew what he was going to say but he wanted to pretend that he was too stupid to know. He just liked forcing Yongguk to utter those cheesy words to him.

“People said that third time’s a charm so…” Yongguk scratched at his head, turning into a shy guy instantly. “I want you to come back to me, Himchan.”

“Well, try again next year.” Was Himchan’s reply.

Yongguk blinked at him dumbly, watching Himchan walk away to get to the kitchen. Himchan smirked and held back the laughter bubbling inside him. He didn’t know that he’d underestimated Bang Yongguk because the moment he stepped into the kitchen, he got swept off his feet and in seconds, he was back in his room, lying on the bed with Yongguk hovering over him, giving him dozens of longing kisses.

They were two idiots who thought that they would be fine by going their separate ways to chase their dreams. They were supposed to know that they needed each other more, that their lives would be more complete with each other’s existence because meeting one another was once in a lifetime while chasing their dreams could be delayed.

But Himchan wasn’t going to admit that being in Yongguk’s arms was ten times better than living in New York.     

 A/N:

Should've named this story 'Stalking people on Instagram' HAHAHA oh well. No appearance by Jonghyun but I hope you get to imagine his handsome face >.< hihi.