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Jihoon is perfectly happy being single.
He’s free to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. So that means endless nights playing phone games just to beat Seungcheol’s high score, eating flaming hot cheetos at 2AM without anyone nagging him about health risks, and using the same bath towel for three weeks without washing it (because how dirty can it get, really? He uses it after a shower, when he’s the most clean.)
Jihoon likes the freedom, he even likes the solitude.
Except, when he doesn’t.
He isn’t going to lie and say being single is all good -- sure, there’s an aching sort of jealousy that rises in his stomach when his roommate, Wonwoo, brings home his new boyfriend for the first time.
Seungkwan is affectionate, overly so, in Jihoon’s opinion, so he hangs off of Wonwoo like his life depends on it. They’re constantly cuddling, whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears, going on immaculate dates. It’s disgusting. Except it makes Jihoon jealous, so maybe it isn’t.
Jihoon is moderately happy with being single, but he guesses he’s scowled a few too many times when Wonwoo affectionately refers to Seungkwan as his “ Smoochie,” because Seungkwan snaps one day.
“You’re bitter,” he points out, literally. His index finger might as well stab a hole through Jihoon’s chest.
“I’m not bitter,” Jihoon rolls his eyes, “I just think you guys over do it, it’s gross.”
“I’m setting you up with someone, a friend,” Seungkwan huffs, pointing his nose in the air, “and you better be nice, because this is my best friend, actually, and if you’re mean to him. I’ll… do something!”
“Vernon?” Jihoon raises an eyebrow and wrinkles his nose, “ew, he’s like a little brother to me.”
“Not Vernon, that would be super weird. You don’t know this friend,” Seungkwan’s eyes widen, and Jihoon can see a glint of something familiar in the back of them.
He knows this look anywhere, he knows that behind the gooey, soft exterior of the younger boy hides a demon, one who is always willing to meddle with people’s personal affairs.
Jihoon groans, “Wonwoo… stop him.”
Wonwoo just bites back a smile and shrugs, as if to say, “you’re on your own.” Jihoon decides then that he needs a new best friend.
“A blind date!” Seungkwan exclaims, “it’s perfect, you guys won’t be able to internet stalk each other beforehand, so you’ll be forced to actually get to know each other. Like the olden days!”
“That’s how Kwan and I got together,” Wonwoo says proudly, “absolutely no internet stalking involved.”
“Oh, I totally internet stalked you,” Seungkwan says quickly, brushing off Wonwoo’s confused expression, “anyways, this is perfect! You’ll be forced to give each other an actual chance!”
“What if I, oh, I don’t know… say no?”
Seungkwan laughs, loudly and sharply, cutting into Jihoon’s ears, “funny!” He slaps Jihoon’s arm, “I’ll let him know you guys are meeting on Saturday, 7PM, at the Cheesecake Factory.”
“I hate the Cheesecake Factory,” Jihoon pouts, “and Saturday? That’s only two days from now.”
“But you aren’t saying no,” Seungkwan smiles, his eyes glimmering in the way that Jihoon has never been able to say no to. He curses Seungkwan for being so damn charming and himself for giving into it.
“I guess I’ll try it out,” he sighs, “but if he’s a weirdo, you owe me dinner. Not at the Cheesecake Factory.”
“Deal,” Seungkwan nods, “but trust me, you’ll like him. This is so exciting! I’m like a real life Cupid, right babe?” He looks over at Wonwoo who is smiling at him proudly.
“Hell yea, Smoochie.”
Preparing for a date with someone you’ve never met, who’s name you don’t even know, should include a variation of the things in the list following:
- personal grooming (maybe a haircut, since his sideburns are getting a little shaggy around his face.)
- a new outfit (all of his jeans have holes in the inner thighs, and Soonyoung spilled fruit punch on his only good button down shirt.)
- a glass of wine (or two, because he’s kinda freaking out a little.)
Jihoon’s preparations, of course, include none of these things.
Instead, he visits the new pet store down the street from his apartment, because Wonwoo forgot to buy El Salvador, their pet frog, food last week. He prides himself in being an excellent frog dad, and plans on scolding Wonwoo later for being a shit one.
The pet store is kind of posh, really, and probably overpriced, but he can’t be bothered with taking an Uber to petco so he makes do anyways. He mulls around the aisles for a bit, intrigued with the gourmet dog treats that look better than some of his own snacks back home.
“Can I help you with anything?” a voice asks from behind him.
“Yeah, what do you think it’s like to be the dog of a rich person?” Jihoon says, mind still consumed by the fifty dollar gluten and soy free treats he’s been staring at for five minutes. He flushes when he realizes he has said this outloud, to a stranger, and spins around on his feet to smile at them politely.
He has to look up, it turns out, because apparently the new pet store only hires giants.
“It’s probably really nice,” the tall man hums, “I think they probably eat better than I do most nights.”
“You’re like, really tall,” Jihoon says, making a fool of himself again, “shit, that’s weird. Sorry, do you sell frog food?”
The other man just giggles a little, surprisingly sounding very small coming from his large frame, “we actually don’t sell frog food, we mostly carry stuff for cats and dogs, sorry. And it’s okay, by the way, I get that a lot.”
Jihoon frowns, thinking about the ten dollar Uber he’s going to have to take, “bummer, thank you anyways. Sorry again,” he squints to read his name tag, “Mingyu?”
“Mingyu,” he nods, his grin wide, canines poking out a bit, making him look like one of the animals the shop caters to, “and you are?”
“Oh,” Jihoon blushes again, flustered that the handsome stranger would even bother asking him after the awkward encounter they just had, “Jihoon.”
“Well, Jihoon, I hope you find some food for your frog,” Mingyu reaches around him a bit, pulling out a plastic bag and placing a few of the expensive dog biscuits inside of it, “here, take a sample, for your troubles.”
Jihoon just smiles politely, taking the bag from Mingyu’s hands. He doesn’t mention that he doesn’t have a dog, nor does he have friends who have dogs, and that these very expensive dog treats will surely go to waste, because he thinks it might hurt Mingyu’s feelings.
He thanks Mingyu again on the way out, and orders an Uber to Petco.
Jihoon looks down at the text message from Seungkwan again, possibly the most horribly worded message he’s ever received.
> Seungkwan Boo: u blue him red
What? <
> Seungkwan Boo: have fun :P
He sighs and looks up at his closet again, plucking out the only blue shirt he owns. He thinks he bought it for his eighth grade graduation, actually, and it’s a wonder that it still fits. It’s snug around his newly built arms, and definitely pulls a bit more around his shoulders, but it’ll have to do.
He isn’t given much more instruction other than to meet his blind date outside the Cheesecake Factory at 7PM, and to look out for a tall man wearing a red shirt, apparently.
He taps his fingers impatiently, maybe nervously, against the brick planter he’s seated on and hopes dust isn’t covering the ass of his dark jeans when he stands up. He tries his hardest not to check the time too often, because he doesn’t want to seem too eager if his date happened to sneak up on him. He is aware, however, that it is currently 7:15PM, and he is already kinda annoyed with this guy. He values punctuality and prides himself in his, and he isn’t sure if he could be with someone who doesn’t.
He kicks himself a bit and remembers he has to actually give this guy a chance, because maybe he is a little lonely, and maybe having a boyfriend does sound nice.
He glances around again, hoping maybe he’ll finally catch sight of the stranger he’s supposed to be meeting for dinner. Instead, he spots a familiar face from the corner of his eye.
“Mingyu?” he questions to himself, but apparently he says it loud enough for the other man to hear, because he’s suddenly turning around and grinning at Jihoon.
“Jihoon!” he exclaims, “did you ever get to feed your frog?”
Jihoon laughs nervously, his face already blushing lightly, “yeah, El Salvador got his food,” he glances at the color of Mingyu’s shirt and realizes it’s blue, and shakes off any hope that by some sort of weird stroke of luck, Mingyu would be his blind date, “what are you doing here?”
“Ah,” Mingyu hums, kicking the dirt with his feet, “it’s kind of embarrassing actually, I think I got stood up.”
“Good!” Jihoon exclaims, before shaking his head quickly, “I mean, not good. That sucks, but, well, I think I got stood up too. So maybe we should just hang out, you know, since we’re already out.”
Mingyu smiles shyly, the same wide grin he gave him the day before in the pet shop, “are you asking me on a date, Jihoon?”
“I mean, we don’t have to call it a date, like if you think that’s weird. I don’t even know if you’re gay or if you’re interested, man I really do just say everything that comes in my head don’t I--”
“I’m both,” Mingyu laughs, “gay and interested, and I think it’s cute when you say things that embarrass you. I’m usually the one making a fool of myself.”
Jihoon relaxes a bit, smiling up at Mingyu, “okay, cool. Cool. Can we go somewhere else, though? I hate the Cheesecake Factory.”
“Thank God,” Mingyu groans in relief, “I do too.”
They end up at a fancy ice cream parlor, because the both of them realize that they each have sweet tooths that border on unhealthy, and they’d rather share a giant ice cream sundae than a plate of Factory Nachos.
Mingyu, as Jihoon suspected, is charming and goofy and sweeter than the kind of guy he’d usually go for, but that’s exactly what he likes about him. He likes how Mingyu listens intently to the story of how they named El Salvador after Wonwoo took just one semester of Spanish his freshman year of college, and he likes the cute squeaky laugh he makes when Jihoon accidentally misses his mouth while trying to shovel chocolate ice cream into it. He likes how the soft pad of Mingyu’s thumb wipes away the chocolate sauce from his nose, and how Mingyu blushes prettily when Jihoon compliments his contagious smile.
He likes Mingyu, and he likes the satisfaction of knowing that he found a date even better than the one Seungkwan arranged.
“This is nice,” Jihoon says, spinning a spoon in the melty leftovers of their ice cream, “you’re really cool, Mingyu. It’s weird how fate works, I guess. I was supposed to go on a blind date tonight, you know? But I like this better, it’s more,” he waves his hand, “natural.”
“No way!” Mingyu’s eyes widen, “I was supposed to go on a blind date tonight, too!”
Something clicks in Jihoon’s brain, and he nearly throws the spoon he’s brandishing across the parlor, but instead he pulls out his phone.
He never showed up. <
> Seungkwan Boo: omg that asshole. hold up.
Jihon closes his eyes and waits only a few moments before Mingyu’s cell is ringing.
“Oh,” Mingyu looks at Jihoon, his eyes still wide in shock, “you… so you know Seungkwan?”
“Unfortunately,” Jihoon nods, rubbing his temples, “did he tell you to wear blue? He told me you’d be wearing red.”
“He told me you’d be wearing red,” Mingyu groans, clicking his phone off and placing it back in his pocket, “he’s never going to hear the end of this, trust me.”
“Oh, I’ll make sure of it,” Jihoon snorts, “anyways… as much of an idiot our friend is, I’m actually kind of glad he messed this up. I really like you, Mingyu, and if you want to, I’d like to get to know you better.”
Mingyu beams, his smile bright, “are you asking me on a second date, Jihoon?”
“If you’re going to be a brat about it, maybe not,” Jihoon pouts playfully, “but yes, I would like to go on a second date with you.”
“Good, because I would really like that too,” Mingyu blushes, quickly threading his fingers through Jihoon’s.
“Wait,” Jihoon says, tilting his head, “if I hate the Cheesecake factory, and you hate the Cheesecake Factory, why the hell did Seungkwan set us up to meet there?”
Mingyu shrugs, and Jihoon’s phone vibrates loudly against the table.
> Seungkwan Boo: did u still go to CF? can u bring me a slice of banana
cream cheesecake :P