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Changkyun couldn’t believe himself. He couldn’t believe he was running late to the date he promised Jooheon he’d be on time for. You can’t break pinky promises, that’s just how it goes.
With a heavy breath, he stopped in front of the restaurant, taking a moment to compose himself. He realised, much too late, that he never replied to his date’s text about what he was wearing. And that he didn’t even get him flowers or, like, chocolate. Something to make up for being late.
Changkyun really was a mess.
Taking a second to look at his reflection in the tinted restaurant window, Changkyun fixed his hair and then pulled the door open, immediately being greeted by a waiter at the podium.
“Table for one?” the man asks, a polite smile on his face.
“No, uh… I’m actually here for a date? A blind date?” Changkyun’s cheeks were hot. He couldn’t tell if it was from the running or from the awkwardness.
“Oh, yes. Come with me,” the waiter said, picking up a menu. Changkyun followed him through the restaurant, smoothing out his black button down, before they came to a stop at a table in the corner, by a window. “Here you go, sir. We’ll be back to take your order soon.”
Changkyun thanked him and sat down, coming face to face with his date.
His date who was incredibly attractive.
And incredibly pissed.
“Hey, I’m Changkyun…” he tried to diffuse the situation with a smile. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“It’s fine,” the other man responded curtly, briefly looking up from the menu before looking away. “I’m Kihyun.”
“Well, um… Have you been waiting long?”
Kihyun sighed and his sharp gaze flitted back up. He brushed stray strands of meticulously styled purple hair away from his face. “No. But when you said you were five minutes away, I expected it to be the truth.”
Changkyun frowned, readjusted his position on the chair. “Uh. I didn’t actually tell you when I’d be here…”
“What?” Kihyun asked, frowning.
A waiter came to ask them what they’d like to start with before Changkyun could reply, and Kihyun ordered politely, handing the menu back with a smile before turning back to Changkyun.
He had never seen a smile drop that quickly.
“What do you mean, you never told me when you’d be here?”
“Exactly that,” Changkyun replied with a shrug. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, because although I should’ve, I didn’t text you to let you know when I’d be here.”
Kihyun’s expression went from annoyed to confused. Changkyun was amazed at how expressive the man in front of him was. “Then… Who texted me?”
“Maybe you’re confusing someone else’s texts?”
“Who else would I be waiting for?” Kihyun rolled his eyes, but pulled out his phone nevertheless. He tapped something on the screen before turning it around and lifting it up to Changkyun. “See? You said five minutes away.”
Changkyun took the phone from Kihyun and frowned as he read the text exchanges. “This- This isn’t me.”
Confusion turned to alarm. “Hold on. You’re not Hyungwon’s friend?”
Changkyun shook his head.
“Then who are you?”
“Im Changkyun. My friend Jooheon set me up on a blind date at this restaurant, and the waiter directed me to your table. My date said they were wearing a white shirt, and you’re wearing a white shirt, so…” Changkyun shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it.”
“So our dates are in this restaurant, right now, but we’re…” Kihyun shook his head in confusion before taking his phone out. “I’m gonna call him.”
With a nod, Changkyun pulled his phone out as well. He quickly opened up his text and began typing out a message.
changkyun [7:42 PM]
uh so
i sat down at the only table expecting someone
and the guy also has a white shirt on but he’s not you, so this is awkward
where are you?
He waited for a minute but when he didn’t get a reply, he looked up from his phone to see Kihyun typing away at his phone with an annoyed expression.
“No luck?” Changkyun asked quietly. Kihyun just shook his head.
changkyun [7:44 PM]
this guy cant get ahold of his date either
this is ironic
With a sigh, Changkyun locked his phone and put it down on the table. Kihyun mirrored his movements, and this time when he looked up at the man opposite him, his features had softened.
“Well… I’m sorry for getting angry,” Kihyun then sighed, a tint of pink apparent on his cheeks even in the low lighting of the restaurant. “You, um. You can leave, if you want? I know I haven’t been pleasant, I won’t blame you.”
Changkyun shook his head. “No, I don’t want to leave. We’re both here, we both dressed up, might as well make the most of it, right?” he offered Kihyun a smile that he returned shyly. “How about we start again?”
Kihyun nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
Changkyun’s smile turned into a grin as he reached a hand out towards Kihyun. “My name’s Changkyun. It’s nice to meet you.”
Kihyun giggled, actually giggled, and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too. I’m Kihyun.”
“Kihyun. That’s a pretty name,” Changkyun commented. It seemed to be the right thing to say, because it had Kihyun spluttering as he thank him. “Tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?” Kihyun asked, eyebrows raised. He brought his glass of water up to his face to take a sip but his eyes never left Changkyun’s.
“Anything.” He shrugged. “What do you do?”
“I’m a graphic designer for an advertising company. It’s not very exciting.”
“Do you like it?”
Kihyun contemplated the question for a second then nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I love graphic design. Getting paid to do it is a nice perk.”
“Then that’s what matters.” Changkyun smiled.
“What do you do, then?”
“I’m, uh, I’m a tattoo artist.”
Kihyun’s eyes widened. “What, really?”
Changkyun hummed, nodded.
“That’s actually really cool. I have a friend who went through maybe a year of the apprenticeship thing and just couldn’t handle it. But also his bosses or whatever were kind of jerks.”
“It’s hard to find the good ones,” Changkyun agreed. “I’ve gotten that a lot. I actually started my apprenticeship at another shop, but they just treated me like dirt most of the time. So I left and came to my current shop, and now I’m an actual artist there. It’s really rewarding, but man, I could’ve done without so much mopping.”
Kihyun smiled warmly. “At least you made it, right? Can I see some of your work?”
Changkyun nodded. “It’s all on my instagram,” he explained, picking up his phone. With swift fingers, he typed in his password and quickly navigated to the correct app before handing the phone over.
He watched as Kihyun browsed through the posts. It was nice that they were both artists, despite their fields of work being vastly different. Changkyun wondered what Kihyun had to say about his work.
As if on cue, Kihyun breathed out, “Wow, these are really beautiful,” as his eyes flitted up from the screen to Changkyun, then back down again. “I guess I know who to go to for my next one.”
“Do you already have one?” Changkyun asked, and Kihyun nodded. “Hunh, I wouldn’t have pictured you to be the type.”
“You don’t look like a tattoo artist,” Kihyun countered, handing him the phone back.
“That’s ‘cause I have long sleeves on,” Changkyun chuckled. “Ah, give me a sec.”
He quickly opened his texts, ignoring the new ones from Jooheon, to make sure that his actual - er, original - date hadn’t said anything. He quickly typed out another message and sent it before leaving his phone face down on the table once again.
“Seriously though, I really like your style,” Kihyun told him with a smile. Changkyun didn’t understand how he could be the same person who had been fuming just minutes earlier.
When the waiter came back to their table, hands full of plates of food that Kihyun had ordered, the other man suddenly looked sheepish. “I didn’t consult with you about these,” he said, clearly embarrassed.
“That’s okay,” Changkyun shrugged, already picking up his chopsticks. “Whatever it is, it looks good.”
Seemingly satisfied with that response, Kihyun picked up his own chopsticks and reached into one of the plates as well.
They ate in silence for a bit, Changkyun occasionally praising the food, before Kihyun piped up. “Okay, but what are the odds that there were two blind dates at this very restaurant?”
“Two very gay blind dates, from what I gather.”
Kihyun almost choked on his food as he laughed. “You’re not wrong.”
“Did your date ever get back to you?”
“Nope. You?”
Changkyun shook his head. “I guess they must be busy.”
“Do you think they’re sitting with each other?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Kihyun then looked away from Changkyun and scanned the restaurant, as if trying to find them, but seemed to give up and turned his attention back to the man sitting across the table. “Oh well.”
“Was that you accepting that you’re gonna have to spend the evening with me?”
Kihyun looked at him with a shimmer of amusement in his eyes. “You say accepting like it’s a bad thing.”
“Well, it’s not the date you were expecting.”
“It was a blind date, Changkyun,” Kihyun chuckled. “I couldn’t really expect anything. Besides… I think this is a rare instance when reality surpasses any expectation I could’ve had.”
It was Changkyun’s turn to choke on the food. “How can you say things like that with a straight face?” Changkyun spluttered, smacking his chest as though it would help him recover.
“There’s nothing straight about this,” Kihyun answered, a nonchalant shrug accompanying his words.
Changkyun really couldn’t believe what he was getting himself into. He had expected this to be just another one of the blind dates Jooheon kept making him go on: polite conversation, tense silence between topics, a promise to text the other that always fell through.
He definitely hadn’t expected Kihyun, with his sharp features and undeniably multifaceted personality. He hadn’t expected banter, out of all things.
Changkyun felt bad for the poor person that hadn’t gotten to meet Kihyun.
“You’re ridiculous,” Changkyun laughed, shaking his head.
Kihyun just smiled and shrugged in response, his eyes curving up at the ends as they crinkled.
The rest of the night passed by in a similar fashion, much to Changkyun’s relief. He was scared that they would eventually run out of things to talk about, but Kihyun was a good conversationalist and the topics weaved into one another seamlessly. He told him stories about difficult customers and Changkyun returned them, laughing at one another’s misfortune. Changkyun learnt about Kihyun’s dogs and his fish (he had never met someone who loved a fish like Kihyun seemed to) and found out that the restaurant they were in was one of his favourites. He seemed surprised when Changkyun said he’d never been there before, then blushed when he suggested they come back together again, some other time.
Before he knew it, they were finishing off desserts (Changkyun insisted on ice-cream even though he knew it was freezing outside) and arguing over who would pay the bill (“Next time, you can pay,” Kihyun had insisted. Changkyun couldn’t argue over the butterflies causing a ruckus in his stomach).
Kihyun held the restaurant door open for Changkyun who thanked him as he exited, sighing when the cold winter air hit them. He tugged his thick blue scarf tighter around his neck, making sure there was no way for the cold air to hit him.
“Oh.”
Changkyun turned to look at Kihyun, who was peering down at his phone. “My- Uh, the guy I was actually supposed to meet, he texted. He said the two of them were getting ready to leave now, and we could meet them out here.”
“It’s so cold though,” Changkyun whined. His hands were shoved deep into the pockets of his coat, shoulders raised as he attempted to curl into himself.
Kihyun clicked his tongue. “Quit your whining. It’s just for a minute. Let’s see what we missed out on.”
“I don’t think I missed out on anything,” Changkyun mumbled, but Kihyun didn’t hear him over the wind whistling around them.
Suddenly, Changkyun got nervous. He had had a good time, but what if the guy Kihyun was actually supposed to meet was more interesting? He shivered slightly and sighed again.
A moment later, the door to the restaurant opened, and out came a guy that looked like he stepped right out of a fitness commercial. Were fitness commercials even a thing? Changkyun didn’t know, but he did know that that man could probably crush him with one hand. He didn’t really like that idea.
Behind him was a man who was probably the polar opposite of that. Tall and lanky with blond hair falling into his eyes, Changkyun couldn’t really imagine the two of them getting along. But fate was weird.
“Hey, I’m Hoseok,” the first man greeted them, and the smile that graced his face took Changkyun by surprise. It definitely wasn’t what he had been expecting. “I’m Jooheon’s friend.”
The yelp that left Changkyun was involuntary, and the three men turned to look at him. He was just thankful that his cheeks were already pink from the cold wind, because he definitely would’ve died of embarrassment under their gazes.
“Are you alright?” Kihyun asked, amusement in his tone but concern on his face. Of course he was an enigma.
“Fine,” Changkyun replied, cleared his throat. “I’m Changkyun. Also Jooheon’s friend.”
“Oh, so you’re who I was supposed to be sitting with.” Hoseok smiled. He stuck out a gloved hand - pink gloves, how cute - for Changkyun to shake. He did so reluctantly, not wanting to pull his hands away from his pockets for too long. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“I’m guessing you’re Hyungwon’s dance friend, then,” Kihyun then said, looking at the blond man. “I’m Kihyun.”
“Hold on, you’re Kihyun?” the blond man laughed, as if privy to a joke only he knew. “No way. I’m Minhyuk. I can’t believe he tried to set me up with you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kihyun asked, and Changkyun hid a chuckle in his scarf. If he had learnt anything about Kihyun that night, it was to not piss him off. And Minhyuk had done just that.
“Nothing, nothing.” Minhyuk shook his head. “Hyungwon has told me a lot about you.”
“What does that rusty beanpole have to say about me?”
Changkyun took a step closer to Kihyun in an attempt to stop him from blowing up.
“He’s scared of you, but don’t tell him I said that,” Minhyuk laughed some more. “I just didn’t expect you to be… Well, considerably shorter than him.”
Oh no. That was definitely not the right thing to say, and Changkyun’s hands shot out of his pockets instinctively before Kihyun could show him just why Hyungwon was so scared of him. He heard Kihyun take a deep breath before saying, “Thank god you weren’t competent enough to find the right table, because I feel like this night would’ve ended way differently.”
“Ooh, scary,” Minhyuk giggled.
But when Kihyun actually took a step towards him, he squeaked, ducking behind Hoseok’s larger frame.
Changkyun bit back his laughter, not wanting to fuel the fire even more, and looped an arm around Kihyun’s. “Well, this was nice, but I’m freezing my ass off.”
“Me too,” Hoseok agreed, rubbing his hands together.
“It was nice to meet you, Hoseok,” Kihyun said, nodding in his direction before his gaze turned to Minhyuk. “As for you, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you anyways.”
“I sure hope not,” Minhyuk muttered, but one glare from Kihyun had him retracting the statement. “It was nice to meet you both! Come on, Hoseok, let’s go!”
Changkyun and Kihyun watched as the blond man pulled a laughing Hoseok along before they turned a corner and disappeared out of sight, then Changkyun turned to his date. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think you missed out on anything.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I did, either,” Kihyun replied, still looking in the direction the two others had walked off in before shaking his head. He looked at Changkyun, then down at their arms, almost as if he had just noticed their proximity. Instead of pulling away, though, he shifted his arm up so he could take Changkyun’s hand in his own, and stuffed their interlocked hands into his coat pocket. He smiled shyly then, and Changkyun could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat. “Come on, let’s get you home and out of this cold. Did you walk?”
Changkyun shook his head. “I had to take the subway,” he answered as they started walking in the general direction of the station. “Did you walk?”
“Yeah, but I could take the subway too. The weather was nicer when I got here.”
“Which way are you going?”
“Uptown,” Kihyun said. “I’d get off at 14th street.”
“Aw. My stop is further away than yours.”
“How much further?”
“I get off at 33rd street.”
Kihyun was quiet for a moment, and when Changkyun looked over at him, it seemed like he was contemplating something. “What’s up?” Changkyun asked.
“Thinking about whether I should take the subway from 33rd or just walk back. I’ll probably take the subway, though. It is bloody cold.”
Changkyun frowned as he took in Kihyun’s words, then his eyes widened. “You don’t have to take me home, you know.”
“You’re right, I don’t have to.” Kihyun shrugged, then met Changkyun’s gaze, a wide smile gracing his face. “But I want to.”