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Aron wasn't quite sure how exactly he ended up in the quiet cafe across the street when just a moment ago he was busy typing away at a report at home. Although, he didn't particularly mind it. Besides, he needed a change of scenery once in a while or he'd go insane with monotony.
Never in his 28 years of life would he have thought that the most peace he could feel was in a cafe in the late afternoon. He basked in the warm sunlight coming from the window while recounting all the things that was due — even if he didn't get around to completing them early.
Cheesecakes were the only things Aron had that afternoon yet he felt way too full for just those. If anything, his eyes were probably more full just by watching cars drive along and gazing longingly at the sunset. Maybe it wasn't just that he was full on but perhaps the sight of the handsome stranger at table five filled him up too.
It was one thing for Aron draining his own pockets for cheesecakes and it's another for a complete stranger to murder their own pockets for cheesecakes to give to him. That's how their little game of buying for each other started. Cheesecakes, as Aron likes to call him in his head, bought him a cake with a note saying nothing but a smiley face so Aron thought he should return the nice gesture by buying the man a cup of coffee. Neither would've thought that their game went for at least three rounds of cheesecakes and coffee before the staff intervened. They did feel kind of ridiculous for it. Not really, though. They still kept on buying each other their respective items until the sun set.
On his way out, the staff asked him why he had bought so much coffee for a stranger. Shrugging, Aron simply replied: "Why not?" Saying this achieved the confused faces on the poor staff he was waiting for. Shortly after, he walked out with a spring in his step and a grin on his face. When was the last time he had been this happy? Aron brushed it off quickly as he made his way to Minhyun's house for a short detour to drop off the extra cheesecakes he had. Just in case Minki, Minhyun's boyfriend, wanted something sweet.
In this part of the city, it isn't very likely for two people to collide on the sidewalk. Even if one of the two didn't look at where he was going when his eyes were clouded with glee.
He didn't fall; quite the contrary actually. A pair of strong arms caught him before his ass fell to the ground, eventually posing Aron as a damsel in distress in the other's arms.
When he finally looked up after an eternity of trying to keep his embarrassment in, he gasped and fumbled at the man who caught him.
"Looks like we meet again, Coffee," spoke the stranger from the cafe in a raspy, panicked voice. Aron had a way with words as he was a journalist but this? It was as if his years of studying languages just flew out of his head the moment the stranger talked.
Realising the awkward position the two were in, Cheesecakes coughed before setting Aron back on the pavement gently. Unsure laughter filled the space around them. Aron wasn't sure if he should say something or not; his mouth was busy drying up in shock of Cheesecakes' visuals.
Honestly, who wouldn't?
"What are you doing here?" Aron opted to ask through his constant spluttering and mumbling. Cheesecakes just laughed cutely (Aron's heart rate suddenly increased). He then proceeded to explain that he lived around the area and just happened to see his "Mr. Coffee" so he wanted to thank him for the coffees.
And it went just like that: they exchanged names and bits about their lives before it was time to head in for the day. Dongho Kang, as Aron came to know, turned out to be a music composer for ROYAL COUPS Entertainment as well as an aspiring singer in the same company. In addition, he found out that Dongho loves the sea. He made a mental note to ask him out to a beach nearby the next opportunity he gets.
Eventually they had to part ways — as everyone else does at the end of the day. He wouldn't be caught admitting it but Aron already missed the other's company even when they hadn't separated yet. Instead, he settled for a neutral "We should meet again next time" and a casual smile to hide his beating heart.
Just then, Dongho stumbled after not landing his right foot properly on the pavement. As a result, his beige coat slipped from his arm (he wasn't wearing it) onto the floor.
As any polite person would do, Aron picked it up and handed it back to his new found friend. He left the scene shortly after in case he'd make a fool out of himself. Mumbling about how his friends would be expecting him with cheescakes as he went.
Dongho looked at the man's receding silhouette in the late afternoon as he walked all the way to his apartment. He laughs in distress as he caresses his coat mindlessly. A couple more minutes pass before he composes himself and curses about not wearing his winter coat properly. He could practically hear Jonghyun nagging him already.
"Of all people, it had to be you." Dongho just smiles to himself.
-
The next morning, Aron received a text from Minki thanking him for the cakes. Having nothing better to do since it was Saturday (he definitely did but he could do it all on Monday), he chatted with Minki and Minhyun until noon. Most of it was catching up and joking around. Eventually the conversation came to the point that they were talking about their jobs and how these were going.
Minki mentioned that he was recently accepted as a model by ROYAL COUPS Entertainment: the same one Dongho worked at.
"Minki," Aron began, not sure about his next words but gave it a shot anyway, "Do you know a composer called Dongho Kang?"
On the other side of the line, Minki grunted while trying to remember. Minhyun- on the other hand- had the gears click inside of his head.
"Wasn't he the guy you accidentally kissed in middle school?"
"Are you serious?" Aron could feel the heat rising up his face faster than his old computer would heat up. Brief memories of middle school flashed past yet none were related to what Minhyun had mentioned.
"Do you think I'm kidding?" Minhyun retorted with a plain tone. His boyfriend failed to contain his laughter at the situation.
"Then why don't I remember?"
Minki offered that it was an event Aron's brain really wanted to forget so he wouldn't remember the embarrassment when he grew up. Aron told him to shut up.
The call came to an abrupt end when the doorbell rang.
Bringing his face to a presentable state wasn't easy for an agitated Aron Kwak but he did it anyway. For all he knew his coworkers had come for some stupid reason like they had back then.
He definitely didn't expect to see Cheesecakes at his doorstep with a bouquet of the bluest flowers Aron had ever seen in his life. Dongho grinned nervously; a stark contrast to his confident demeanor just the day before.
"Here," the well-built man mumbled sheepishly while extending his right arm out for Aron to take the bouquet. "They're Delphinium, by the way. Your birth flower," he explained rapidly.
Inviting Dongho in was the only thing he could do in that moment so he could get some answers to his myriads of questions. And he'd have a hot guy come in his home to brighten up the dreary place. Having minimalist furniture as courtesy of your friends gets boring sometimes.
It was only when the composer's shoulders visibly relaxed that Aron began his questions.
"What's the flowers for?"
"Did we know each other when we were younger?"
"Did I accidentally... do something to you that time?"
All Dongho did was belt out in genuine laughter. Though, that did nothing to reassure Aron of anything he was confused of.
"Would you care to hear my story? It'll explain why I'm here right now." Aron nodded way too enthusiastically as a response.
"It'll sound preposterous but I'm a selkie. Basically a mermaid but a seal?" Looking at Aron's understanding face urged him to continue. "I can be human once I get out of the sea."
So as to not be rude, Aron nodded even if he didn't really understand what Dongho was saying. He blamed it on the fact that the other was just so cute and hot that he couldn't fully focus.
"Anyways, my coat is supposed to be my seal skin. If anyone is to pick it up, I'll be bounded to them for eternity. Unless, of course, either of us dies."
"Hold on." Aron puckered up his lips. They were getting too dry. "So because I picked up your coat, we're bounded?" The younger nodded meekly in response. He could meet Aron's eyes.
Dongho stuttered as he continued. He further explained that if they were to be like this, he might as well do it in human customs. Pulling a blue velvet box out of his pocket, he mentioned that if Aron wants to back out he should do it right now.
In an attempt to let Dongho know he was completely fine with it, he pulled him by the collar and sloppily smashed their lips together.
-
"Daddy, I don't think you're telling the truth," mutters a frustrated young girl to her father. Her father giggles annoyingly.
"How else would I have met your Dongho-appa, Yomi?"
"Weren't you old when you met appa?"
"Good one Yomi," Dongho screams unceremoniously from the kitchen as he's making bread.
Aron smiles to himself while disguising it as a fake sneer to humour his daughter a little bit more. He wistfully marvels at how fate brought their little family of three together. Looking back, he doesn't regret buying over twenty cups of coffee for a stranger (or a person he knew before he got his memory temporarily wiped) at all. If anything, he'd do it again if it meant ending up where they are now. Happy and a loud mess.
"I know that look in your eyes." Dongho had somehow crept up behind Aron in the midst of his reminiscing without him knowing. Hannah's eyes glint cheekily in the sunlight too.
"It's nothing. Say, wanna go out to the cafe this week to get cheescakes and coffee?" Aron opts to reply with because he doesn't want to talk about his inner screamings with Yomi nearby. Not yet. Not until she's older, he reasons.
"Why not? Jun's still working there so he could probably be a witness to our dates there."
Aron hums contentedly and laces his hands with Dongho's gently. Yomi goes off to watch some television after complaining about how cringey her dads are. She smiles softly before running away.
"Would you have married me if I wasn't a selkie?"
"No, but maybe it would've taken longer to do so. I love you, Dongho."
"Are you saying this because I made your favourite bread?" The selkie gets hit playfully with a pillow. His husband chuckles, amused.