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The bell rang and Seungkwan was grateful for the weekend to finally be able to begin. One of his friends was having a party tomorrow because his parents were out of town and it was sure to be a good one. Seungkwan threw his bag over his shoulder and followed the rest of his classmates to the door. He walked passed the desk of one of his, what he liked to call, sort-of-friends; people he was on a first name basis with and maybe exchanged phone numbers, but he wouldn't consider part of his inner circle per se. Not that he would mind if this particular sort-of-friend became part of that inner circle.
“See you later, Hansol. Have a good weekend.”
Hansol smiled at him, “Yeah, you too. Maybe see you at Chan's party tomorrow?”
Seungkwan nodded with a smile and continued his way to the door, but he must have brushed passed Hansol's pencil case that was still on his desk because it fell to the floor, scattering its contents.
“Oh god, I'm so sorry. I can be so clumsy.” Seungkwan quickly picked everything up and handed it back to Hansol.
“Thanks.”
Seungkwan chuckled, “Don't thank me for picking up the things I dropped on the floor in the first place.” Seungkwan realized they were the only two left in the classroom and it was probably the first time he was completely alone with him. He cleared his throat, “So...anyway. Time for weekend.” He was about to walk away when Hansol spoke up.
“Oh! I just remembered a new movie came out that's supposed to be like really good. If you're not busy tonight do you want to go check it out?”
“Oh, ehm, yeah, sure.”
“Cool. The movie starts at eight. Meet at the movie theater? You have my number, right?”
“Yeah, I think I do. Okay, I'll see you tonight then.”
***
“Seungkwan, let's go over to Seokmin's or Hoonie's place when we're done with our homework. I'm bored,” Soonyoung said from on top of Seungkwan's bed where he was lying on his back. Not doing homework.
“You mean when I finish my homework? If we have to wait for you to finish yours we'll never leave this room. But I can't anyway. I'm going to the movie later.”
Soonyoung sat up straight, “What movie?”
Seungkwan then realized that Hansol had never actually said which movie they were going to. “I don't know...”
“You don't know? Who are you going with? I'm shocked you have plans that I didn't know about.”
“You're not my only friend you know. I'm going with Hansol.”
Soonyoung's eyes widened, “Oh. My. God. Is it a date? Please tell me it's a date! I knew that you and him-”
“It's not a date! Of course not! Right?” Seungkwan knew that he wouldn't exactly mind having a date with Hansol, but he never considered that his offer to go to the movies was his way of asking him out.
Soonyoung jumped up from the bed and started pacing up and down Seungkwan's bedroom like some sort of detective, “Hmm, let's gather all the facts, shall we? First of all, how did he ask? By app, in person, note attached to a pigeon?”
“In person. I knocked his pencil case off his desk and by the time I picked it up we were the only ones left in the classroom. I think I mentioned the weekend and he said there was a good new movie and he asked me if I wanted to go check it out tonight.”
“Aha! He's a man with a plan. This is good.”
“It is?”
“Yes. He obviously must have placed his pencil case on the edge of his desk hoping that you would walk by. Knowing that you have a very round butt, I know that he knows this because I've seen him looking at it, he must have anticipated that you would knock it off his desk. Or, if he's as sly as I think he might be, he just did it himself. This was his way to make sure you two would be the last ones in the classroom so he could get you alone and ask you out.”
“I don't think that he-”
“It's just going to be the two of you, right? He didn't mention going with a group or anything?”
“I...he didn't mention anyone else, no.”
“See? How many guys our age do you know that go to the movies with just the two of them?”
“Lots! You and Seokmin watch movies together all the time!”
“Yes, but we are platonic soulmates.”
“Didn't know platonic meant making out together on a regular basis.” Seungkwan mumbled under his breath.
“That's just to improve our skills. One bro helping out another bro.”
Damn he has good hearing .
“Anyway, that's not important right now, Seungkwan! We need to get you ready for your date with Hansol!”
“I'm telling you it's not a date! The fact that we were alone was just a coincidence. He probably just remembered that he wanted to see this movie and didn't want to go alone. I was right there so he asked me on impulse. As a friend.”
“Didn't you say you don't even know what movie you're seeing? Doesn't that seem a bit odd to you? I'm telling you-”
“It's not a date! And he didn't check out my ass. Jeez.”
“Fine, I can see you need a second opinion on this. Hold on.”
“No I don't! Stop making a big deal out of- and you already have Jihoon on speaker, don't you?”
“ What do you want? ” he heard Jihoon's voice say from Soonyoung's phone.
“Hoonie, if someone waits to be alone with someone to ask them out to see a movie, just the two of them, that's a date right?”
“Probably.”
“Oh and the someone who asked is Hansol and the person he asked is Seungkwan.”
“In that case I would say it's about ninety percent certain that it's a date.”
Seungkwan yanked the phone from Soonyoung's hand so he could yell directly into it, “Stop! It's not a date! We're just going to see a movie together.”
“Seungkwan, I'm going to hang up now because I don't want my call history to show I had a call with Soonyoung that's longer than two minutes, but I will say this: if he buys you popcorn it's definitely a date. Oh and don't put out on the first date.”
***
Seungkwan arrived at the movie theater a little later than he had intended. Mostly because it took him so long to get rid of Soonyoung who had been determined to help Seungkwan with his outfit. He got a message from Hansol saying he was already inside so Seungkwan went in as well and found him waiting for him near the snacks.Holding one large popcorn.
“I already got the tickets and popcorn for the both of us. Not sure what you like so I got a sweet and salty mix. It's my personal favorite.”
“Oh, ehm, thanks” Seungkwan could hear Jihoon's voice echoing in his head. If he buys you popcorn it's definitely a date . “What do I owe you?” He reached for his wallet, but Hansol shook his head.
“Oh, that's okay. It's on me.”
Definitely a date
“So...do you want to go in?” Seungkwan asked trying to remain calm and block his friends' voices from his mind.
“Yeah, we just have to wait one sec, they're almost done buying popcorn too.”
They? Seungkwan thought. Who are they ?
They turned out to be Hansol's teammates from soccer club; Seungcheol, Wonwoo, and Mingyu. Seungkwan sort of knew them from school. “I hope you don't mind I asked them to come too?”
“No, of course not.” Seungkwan chuckled awkwardly. “The more the merrier.” He wanted to punch himself in the face.
They all went in and sat down. At least he ended up sitting next to Hansol. Well, in between Hansol and Wonwoo. If he buys you popcorn it's a date my ass. Seungkwan thought to himself and made plans to strangle Jihoon and Soonyoung when this not-date from hell was over. Although...he looked over at the popcorn the other three boys had bought. They all had their own popcorn. No sharing. So why did Hansol get them one big popcorn to share. Together. Like on a d- No, Seungkwan. Don't do this to yourself. It's not a date. He's just thinking economically .
Seungkwan was grateful when the lights turned off and the previews started. He was just going to watch the movie and try to ignore Hansol's presence. Something that was particularly hard to do when Hansol leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “I have the popcorn on my lap so just grab some whenever you want .”
Seungkwan completely missed the first fifteen minutes of the movie because he was having an internal struggle. He couldn't shake the thought that if he reached for the popcorn he would basically be reaching for Hansol's crotch area, even if there was a ton of popcorn between that and his hand. On the other hand, if he didn't reach for any popcorn Hansol might notice and think he was weird for not eating any. He finally lifted his hand, but changed his mind halfway through. To mask his indecision he placed his hand on their shared armrest. Smooth. Seungkwan was over-thinking about what to do next with his hand when his train of thought came to a halt when Hansol also placed his hand on their shared armrest. Right next to Seungkwan's. Not touching, but so close that it would only take the smallest of movements to make them touch. And that's exactly what Hansol did. Very slowly he moved his pinky finger, just enough to make contact with Seungkwan's.
Seungkwan's eyes shot down to their hands. He didn't move away, but neither did Hansol. Or more precisely, Hansol did move his finger, but he was moving it against him, like he was rubbing their pinkies together. Seungkwan's heart was racing and it took some effort to control his breathing. What Hansol was doing was a deliberate action, right? Seungkwan decided it was safe to test the water a bit, just a little bit, and moved his own pinky in response. When he did, Hansol wrapped his pinky around Seungkwan's and held it just like that.
Seungkwan's eyes shifted upwards. Hansol was looking straight at the movie. His eyes glanced to his other side. Wonwoo didn't seem to notice anything. So Seungkwan just continued to sit there. His heart pounding out of his chest with Hansol's finger wrapped around his own, not knowing what this was supposed to mean.
That night Seungkwan lay in his bed. Replaying what had happened over and over again in his head. Was he reading too much into this? Hansol had removed his hand before the movie was over and he didn't act any different when the lights came back on. They had said goodbye and Seungkwan took the bus home. He picked up his phone and opened the group chat he had with his closest friends. Seungkwan groaned when he read the dozens of unread messages. Soonyoung had made sure everybody was up-to-date about the fact Seungkwan was out with Hansol. Seungkwan sighed. He supposed it was better to give them some sort of update.
Wasn't a date. Three of his friends were there, too.
He muted the chat, put his phone away and hoped that would be the end of it. He didn't feel like driving himself crazy over something that was probably nothing. But he should have known his friends better than that. The next day he went over to Jihoon's house to get ready for the party together with his friends. And they had questions.
“What about the popcorn?” Seokmin asked. “Jihoon taught me that when someone buys you popcorn it's a date. Unless you have a system where the one person buys it the one time and the other person buys it the next. Like me and Soon.”
Seungkwan rolled his eyes, “Or maybe not everybody knows these ridiculous dating rules you idiots have come up with. Maybe Hansol just bought an extra large popcorn for us to share because it makes more sense economically.”
“Hold up,” Soonyoung said, “He bought popcorn for you to share ? And just to be clear, he paid?”
“Yeah, well, I was a little late so he already got the popcorn and the tickets. I offered to pay him back, but he said not to worry about it. It's not a big deal, okay?”
Jihoon huffed, “If I pay for tickets and snacks, you better believe I either really like that person or I'm hoping to score.”
“Is that why you keep paying for stuff for Jeonghan?” Seokmin asked.
“Yes, dammit, but that long-haired gorgeous freak is playing hard-to-get.”
“Guys, we're getting side-tracked here. We can discuss Jihoon's failed woo-ing attempts later.”
Soonyoung dodged the pillow Jihoon threw at him and turned his attention to Seungkwan. “So he paid for your shared popcorn and the tickets, but he also invited his other friends along. Hmm, this is tricky. How about during or right after the movie? Did he do or say anything?”
“No, all right. We just watched the movie and both went our separate ways after that. Can we please stop talking about it now.”
Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Seokmin exchanged looks. They knew Seungkwan wasn't telling them eveything, but they also knew Seungkwan and trying to pry it out of him probably wouldn't work right now.
Soonyoung sighed, “Lets just get ready for Chan's party then.”
“Hansol might be there.” Seokmin wiggled his eyebrows at Seungkwan but only got a glare in response.
***
When they arrived the party was already well on its way. Apparently Chan was friends with a lot more people than they knew. They made their way through the crowd until they located Chan to let him know they had arrived. Seungkwan spotted Hansol from the corner of his eye. Seungkwan stopped to say hello, but Hansol didn't even bother to look at him and continued the conversation he was having. Seungkwan felt a tug on his arm and followed his friends away from Hansol.
Jihoon clicked his tongue with annoyance, “He's rude. And not in a 'it's rude how hot and or sexy he is' kind of way. Like Jeonghan. He's just rude.”
“He's not rude, he was talking with some people, he probably just didn't hear me.” Seungkwan said, even though he knew Jihoon was probably right in this case.
“Yeah, right.” Jihoon said, unconvinced. “Anyway, I need a drink. Where does Chan keep the booze.”
“You shouldn't drink, Hoonie, we're underage!” Seokmin said.
“Yeah, it'll stunt your growth.” Soonyoung laughed but yelled out in pain when he got kicked in the shin.
“The only thing that will stunt my growth is the stress I get from hanging around you. I'm going to check the kitchen. Seungkwan are you coming?”
“Ehm, actually, I'm just going to step outside for a bit. It's really warm in here with all these people. I'll see you guys later.” Before any of his friends could offer to go with him he walked away. He wasn't liking this party. At all. He went out into the garden and he almost turned right back around when he found Hansol there too. He was sitting on the swing chair and looked up with a smile on his face. He waved him over, “Seungkwan, come sit next to me. You can see the stars from here!”
Seungkwan slowly walked over to him and sat down, making sure to leave some space between them. But apparently Hansol hadn't gotten the memo that this current situation was super awkward and weird and seemed to have lost any regard for personal space when he leaned over Seungkwan to point to the sky, “Wow look at that one over there, it's so bright!” When he lowered his arm he placed his hand on Seungkwan's leg. He did it in such a casual manner that Seungkwan wasn't sure if he had meant to do that, but honestly he wasn't sure about anything that Hansol did anymore. He got ignored by him not ten minutes ago and now they were sitting outside, looking at the stars. With shoulders touching and Hansol's hand on Seungkwan's thigh. If he had know that going out to get some air would end up with him in a situation where he was in more desperate need of air than ever, he would have followed Jihoon to the kitchen and taken a shot or two.
“I had fun at the movie yesterday,” Hansol said softly, turning his head to look at Seungkwan.
Seungkwan glanced over at him, but looked away again just as quickly. “Y-yeah, me too.”
He cautiously looked at him again. Hansol was still looking back. Seungkwan didn't hear the sounds coming from inside anymore. Like there was no party. Just them, sitting here in this moment. They looked into each others eyes and Seungkwan was one second away from leaning in when Hansol stood up and stretched his arms over his head.
“Well, that's enough stars for me. I'm heading back inside. How about you?”
Seungkwan leaned back into the chair with a sigh, “I'll just stay outside a little longer.”
“Okay. Catch you later.”
“Yeah, okay.” Seungkwan was ready to wallow in self-doubt and insecurities when he decided it was time to end this limbo he was hanging in with Hansol. With the risk of making an ass out of himself if he really had read all of Hansol's signals wrong he stood up, “Wait, Hansol. You know what? No, not okay.”
Hansol turned back around and stared at Seungkwan, “What?”
“What's your deal?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“You ask me to the movie and then my friends all tried to convince me it was a date and that you checked out my ass, but I told them they were crazy and wrong, but then you bought the popcorn, to SHARE may I add, so I thought 'okay maybe it is a date'. But then your friends were also there and I figured 'okay so not a date'. Then you hold my hand, sort of, but just act like nothing happened. And just now inside you totally ignored me, but now you want to look at stars together and get all close with your hand on my leg and stare into my eyes and cause this 'moment', but then you just get up and leave!? I don't get it. I don't get this. I don't get you!”
Hansol just stood there, staring at him, not sure how to respond. “I...I...”
“I can't hear you!” Seungkwan had lost all patience and was already annoyed at the fact he was about to be told that of course it hadn't been a date and he had just, in fact, made an ass of himself.
“I like you,” Hansol mumbled.
“Yeah, that's what I thought. I don't know what I was thinking anyway. Thank you for your time and- Wait what?”
Hansol stood up straight and looked Seungkwan in the eye, “I like you. It was supposed to be a date, but then I freaked out about it and when I ran into my friends I invited them along. I'm sorry I ignored you before, but I was just worried I had scared you off with my weird pinky holding move and I wanted to give you some space, but then you walked out here and there were stars and it just felt like destiny or something, but then I freaked out again...”
“Oh...well maybe you should stop freaking out and realize that maybe I don't want any space.”
“I'm sorry, I'll just leave you alone.” Hansol turned around leaving Seungkwan to wonder if Hansol was really dense or if his own flirting skills were just so terrible before he stopped in his tracks and turned back around. “Ooohh. You don't want space?”
“Not really. Honestly I was about one second away from risking it all and kissing you before.”
“Shit, really!? This is why my friends keep telling me I'm a romantic mess. It's because I ruin moments like that! I can't believe I could have kissed you!”
Seungkwan chuckled. He had never seen Hansol like this before. It was weird how Hansol freaking out, like Seungkwan himself usually did in his head, made him feel all the more calm and confident, “You still can if you want to.”
Hansol, determined not to let another chance like that pass him by, stepped forward and looked into Seungkwan's eyes. A bit hesitant still, he leaned in, Seungkwan closed his eyes and felt Hansol's lips on his own. The kiss was short, but just felt just right.
Hansol gently caressed Seungkwan's cheek with his fingers, “From now on, I want to do that a lot more.”
***
They were sitting on the swing chair, gently swinging it back and forth, fingers intertwined, Seungkwan with his head on Hansol's shoulder. “Hansol? Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Was buying the popcorn for us to share, and paying for it, a 'move'? My friends all seem to think there are clear dating rules when it comes to popcorn.”
“Well, yeah. I sort of regretted asking my friends along so I figured I could show you my intentions using popcorn. But then you didn't eat any of it...and I did that weird pinky thing.”
Seungkwan gave Hansol's hand a light squeeze, “It wasn't weird. It was sweet. It totally messed with my head though. I had no idea what your intentions were at that point.”
“Yeah...sorry.” Hansol rubbed his thumb over the back of Seunkwan's hand, “Babe, I need to confess something.”
“Oh?”
“You didn't knock over my pencil case. I dropped it on the floor on purpose so you would stay a little longer and we'd be alone. Also, your friend was right. I did check out your ass once. Okay not once...a few times...okay I look at it all the time...I can't help it I just want to-”
“Hansol? I think this is one of those times where you're about to ruin a moment. Let's just sit here close together with the beautiful stars above us and the sounds of underage drinking in the background. We can talk about what you want to do to my ass some other time.”
Hansol laughed, “How about I take you out on an actual date first?”
Seungkwan smiled at him, “I'll buy the popcorn.”