I n t e r r o g a t o i r e

It’s a bit of a strange thought to know that just a few hours ago, Donghae had been a lonely man, about to spend an equally lonely weekend. Now, he’s technically still a lonely man, but his day has proved to be, well—interesting. Or, at least, more than he’d expected in the first place.

Donghae is still in the Starbucks coffee shop. At the bar, the coffee machine stirs up to life once more; it makes a long, screeching noise. Cups clink together, while chatter and laughter mix up cheerfully in the background. It’s almost closing time, so Donghae decides to try and finish his last paragraph before heading home.

Donghae lasts about ten minutes before he has to look away from his computer. The screen light is too harsh for him, which gives him a terrible headache. Donghae rubs his tired eyes, yawning under his breath, and then looks down at the slightly rumpled piece of paper that’s still on his table. A phone number has been scribbled on it. It’s his own, the one that Hyukjae had implicitly refused to accept earlier that day.

A fierce blush promptly spreads across Donghae’s face. Whether it’s out of embarrassment or disappointment, he’s not quite sure. He remembers how, after Donghae’s brief spurt of confidence, mostly boosted by Hyukjae’s unexpected description of him, the both of them had contentiously avoided any kind of eye contact.

Honestly, Donghae doesn’t know what brought him to act so cheeky. It had been a bit creepy to hear a complete stranger describe him as his boyfriend to his mother, that’s for sure. The only thing that Donghae knew about that man was his name, and that was only thanks to the scribble that the Starbucks staff had written on Hyukjae’s cup. But at the same time, Hyukjae had looked so guilty, so embarrassed, that Donghae couldn’t have helped but find him sort of adorable.

And then, well. Donghae had kind of acted on instinct, to be honest.

Hyukjae left a few hours after his awkward conversation with Donghae. He had avoided Donghae’s eyes most of the time that he spent in the coffee shop, as if he wished to be anywhere else but there. That upset Donghae a little at first—his intention hadn’t been to make Hyukjae feel uncomfortable, or to force him into anything.

But, thankfully, beneath the embarrassment, an obviously gleam of thrill and excitation lightened up Hyukjae’s face. That had reassured Donghae that he wasn’t the only one hoping for it—for some sort of something happening between the two of them. Because, well, apparently Donghae has ‘very nice brown eyes’, is ‘very cute’ and has a ‘very nice smile, too’.

So go figure Donghae’s disappointment when Hyukjae never left him his phone number.

Donghae sighs. Now, he’s pretty sure that it’s out of disappointment. He shoots a last mournful glance at the note with his phone number, pouting slightly, and then closes his laptop.

If Donghae had been so cute and had such a nice smile, then why hadn’t Hyukjae told him so? Maybe asked him out a date? Or, even better, accepted Donghae’s offer of a date? For a moment, Donghae had hoped to spend a pleasant Friday night getting to know a handsome and quite interesting man.

Now, he’s back to his original plans of a lonely, boring weekend.

“Never mind,” Donghae sighs again.

Donghae puts his things back into his bag with another yawn. Then, after a quick goodbye to the last few staff still present, he finally steps outside the shop and heads towards the nearest subway station.

Donghae’s only taken about three steps, when a heavy weight barrels into him. He nearly falls over with a oof!

“Oh, , I—” stammers a familiar voice as strong hands pulls Donghae back to his feet, “I—I didn’t mean to—… I mean, I—”

“No, um, it’s—it’s okay,” Donghae clears his throat awkwardly. He looks up, and—

And, oh man, there’s Hyukjae standing in front of him.

Hyukjae is panting slightly, as if he’s just ran all the way here. His face is slightly flushed, and Donghae can’t tell whether it’s because he’s out of breath or of bashfulness. They stare at each other in an awkward silence, until Hyukjae finally opens his mouth at the same time that Donghae does.

“I just want to—”

“About earlier, I—”

“Oh,” Donghae laughs. “You can go first.”

Hyukjae gulps nervously, but nods in determination. “I just wanted to say, um, about earlier, I’m—” He takes a deep breath. “I’m really sorry about how I kind of brushed you off about that date on Friday. I was kind of—you know, kind of embarrassed about the whole, uh. The whole describing you to my mom as my boyfriend even if I don’t know you at all. And I—I do think you’re really cute, and I’d love to go on a date with you, and if you’re okay with it, I’d love to take your phone number.” Hyukjae says the last sentence in a rush, and Donghae has a hard time understanding all the words. He gets a good grasp of the meaning though.

“Oh, um,” Hyukjae says then, and he sounds so awkward, so adorable, “also my name is Hyukjae. In case, uh, that you didn’t know.”

Donghae vaguely thinks about telling Hyukjae that he does, in fact, know his name. But before he can say a word, he feels a deep blush of his own flare up across his face. Because, well, just a minute ago, he’d been complaining about wishing that Hyukjae had said all the things that he’d told his mother to him, instead.

Isn’t it kind of amazing that it’s actually happening now?

“I’m Donghae,” Donghae says playfully, and Hyukjae blushes again as they both remember what happened earlier that day. “And yes; I’d love to go on that date with you. Hyukjae.”

And then with that, Donghae’s day is made. He has Hyukjae’s number, the promise of a nice Friday date, and an awkward little wave-and-smile from Hyukjae when they part ways again. Such an eventful little place, Donghae muses with a shy pleased grin as he walks away from the Starbucks.

*

The next day, Hyukjae is still riding on the excitement of his meeting with Donghae. The latter’s phone number is still folded neatly in the pocket of Hyukjae’s coat. When he reaches for it, the tips of his fingers brush along the creases of the note. Hyukjae smiles.

Thinking about it now, even a day later, Hyukjae still feels a rush of embarrassment wash over him. There are many things, ridiculous things, that he’s done under pressure—like putting his foot in his mouth in front of his boss, or falling over nothing in front of a date. But what happened with Donghae the day before—that was a first, definitely.

As soon as he overcomes the embarrassment though, Hyukjae can’t help but feel excited and eager for Friday night to come. Because well, now, Hyukjae’s got a date. Granted, the whole process of getting one had been a bit odd; but as they said, the means