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Bam took a deep breath.
He could do this.
It was just four words. It shouldn’t be this difficult. He faced down the Hell Train, the Floor of Death, even data Zahard. This should be a piece of cake compared to everything else.
All he had to do was go up to his best friend and ask him out on a date. His best friend who he recently realized he had not so platonic feelings for. His best friend who was smart and kind and oh so incredibly beautiful.
Bam couldn’t do this.
Thankfully or not, the choice was taken out of his hands when Khun caught sight of him.
“Bam?”
“K-Khun!” Bam tried really hard not to look too nervous or suspicious. Judging from Khun’s raised eyebrow, he failed in both regards. “Just the person I was looking for.”
A slight smile played on Khun’s lips. “Well, you found me. Was there something I could help you with?”
“I was just wondering…” Just spit it out already! “Are you free tomorrow?” Bam finally blurted out in a rush. There. At least he managed to get the words out.
Khun hummed thoughtfully. “Pretty sure I am. I didn’t really have anything planned. Why, what’s up?”
“Great! In that case, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tomorrow.” Bam swallowed discreetly. “With me?”
Khun brightened. His smile was bright and infectious and made his eyes sparkle like suspendium. For a second, Bam wondered why he needlessly worried over any of this. “Of course! It’ll be nice to get away from everyone for once. It feels like we haven’t had much time to hang out recently, what with everything that’s been going on.”
“Great!” Bam repeated, voice just a tad bit higher than usual. “I’ll meet you at the lobby at noon?”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
As soon as he was alone, Bam immediately felt the strength leave his legs. He actually did it. He had a date with Khun tomorrow.
Bam got to experience exactly five seconds of carefree bliss before panic set in.
He had a date with Khun tomorrow.
Bam never thought he would be grateful for Ha Jinsung’s nearly endless supply of clothes. As it was, deciding what to wear only resulted in a minor meltdown instead of the major meltdown that would have inevitably occurred had he not had several closetsful of clothing to choose from.
Bam wanted to look nice for Khun. Khun always looked so effortlessly elegant. He really wanted to put in the effort and, well, not necessarily match, but look like someone who could at least belong next to Khun for once. Besides, you were supposed to dress up for a date right?
As he headed towards the lobby, he tried not to fiddle with the button-down he had finally settled on. It was a dark red color that Ha Jinsung once said looked good on him, citing how it brought out the warm tones of his hair and eyes. Or something along the lines of that. Bam didn’t claim to know fashion.
When he arrived to the lobby, Khun was already there. Today, he was wearing a silvery cardigan that looked impossibly soft and a deep blue overcoat that made the color of his eyes pop out even more. Several strands of hair were tucked behind his ear in a tasteful side braid and his earrings glinted brightly under the soft lights.
It took a long moment for Bam to realize he was staring. It was impossible not to, but they were never going to get anything done on this date if he kept gawking over Khun like this.
“Sorry,” he called out as he hurried over. “Did you wait long?”
Khun glanced up with a smile. “No, I just got here maybe a few minutes before you did.” He gave him an appreciative look. “Is that a new shirt?”
“Yes,” Bam fidgeted uncertainly. “Does it look bad?”
“Not at all. I’m just surprised since I don’t usually see you wearing such a color.” Khun smiled again. “It looks good on you.”
Bam would never doubt his Master’s words again. “You-! You look very nice as well!”
“Thank you. So what’s the plan for today?”
“I was thinking maybe we could eat first, then shop, then go watch a movie?” So sue him, Bam knew he was recounting the same exact things he did when he went on that date with Endorsi. In hindsight, he probably could have planned this out better, but all of those were acceptable date activities, right?
But Khun only nodded agreeably. “Sounds good to me. What did you want to eat?”
This, he did think about ahead of time. “How about Western food?” Bam knew it was Khun’s favorite and even though he preferred Korean or Eastern food himself, he didn’t mind choosing a different cuisine if it made Khun happy.
Khun’s brows furrowed. “You’re not that fond of Western food though. You like Korean or Eastern food more, don’t you?”
Bam felt a small thrill go through him. Khun remembered his favorite food. But then again, Khun always remembered the little things about him, even the things Bam forgot he had mentioned before. It was one of the many qualities he liked most about his friend. Bam never had to worry about going unheard when he was with him because he knew Khun was always listening.
“Yeah, but I thought we could go with your favorite today,” Bam finally admitted.
Khun’s eyes softened. The look he gave him next was unbelievably fond. “You’re entirely too selfless, Bam.”
Bam stubbornly shook his head. “You were trying to do the same thing for me too.”
“How about a compromise then?” Khun offered. “I read about this popular café that serves fusion food when I was researching popular places at the Last Station.”
“Fusion food?”
“It’s a type of cuisine that combines the elements of different cultures and regions into a single dish. As it turns out, this café offers Korean-Western fusion food. How does that sound?”
Bam could have melted right then and there. He was so caught up in his nervousness over this whole dating thing that he almost forgot the most important thing—this was Khun he was hanging out with. Spending time with Khun was easy, as intuitive as breathing or using shinsoo.
Everything would turn out okay as long as he was with Khun.
Bam beamed brightly. “That sounds great!”
Khun wasn’t playing fair at all. The fusion food had turned out to be both delicious and filling. But before Bam could reach for the bill, Khun had beaten him to it.
He had tried to protest, but Khun had turned a guileless smile on him. “Don’t worry about it, it’s on me. You won’t deny me the chance to treat you to something new, right?” How was Bam supposed to refuse him when he put it like that?
But Bam was going to redeem himself when they went shopping next. He was resolved to buy Khun something that would make his eyes light up with excitement every time he saw it.
Bam faltered for half a second when he realized he had no idea where they should go to shop, but luckily, Khun directed them to a popular shopping district that came up in his research.
Bam inwardly beamed again. He was so glad he was doing this whole dating thing with Khun.
Except. He would greatly appreciate it if Khun could. Please. Let him. Buy him. Something.
Don’t get him wrong, shopping with Khun was fun—Khun had very eclectic tastes and Bam greatly enjoyed seeing him try out one outfit or another—but every time he tried to pay for something or offered to buy him something, Khun would wave him off.
Eventually, Khun did finally relent, probably more out of concern for Bam’s increasingly anxious fidgeting than anything else, and let Bam buy him a pair of cufflinks. Bam wasn’t exactly sure what cufflinks were, but Khun seemed to like them well enough and that was the most important thing.
As they were leaving the store, a glint of blue caught Bam’s eyes.
He was drawn to a pair of stud earrings that were nestled in a display case. A beautiful blue gem sat in the center of each stud, inlaid with a fine, gold border. The overall design was simple, but elegant, and its delicate detailing enhanced the brilliance of the gemstone.
Bam couldn’t help but notice how its colors matched his and Khun’s eyes exactly.
“Do you like them?” Khun asked, following the direction of his gaze.
Of course he liked them. It was his and Khun’s colors entwined in Khun’s signature jewelry. Before Bam could express just how much the idea of matching jewelry appealed to him, Khun had already flagged down the salesperson and paid for the earrings.
“Khun, no-” Bam started to protest.
“You mean you don’t want them?”
“Of course I do but,” Bam bit his lip, conflicted. “I just feel bad because it seems like I’m always having you spend money on me.”
Khun gave him a smile that was entirely too warm. “It’s no trouble at all. I like buying things for you, Bam. It makes me happy to see you enjoy the things I get you.”
Bam hoped his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “Fine, but next time, you have to let me buy you things as well! It might not seem like it, but I actually have a lot of money saved up from the time I was with FUG, you know.”
Khun’s smile took on a distinctively amused curve. “Alright then, if you insist.”
The rest of the date went by far too quickly.
After watching a movie that Bam admittedly did not pay too much attention to—he was too busy watching Khun’s reactions instead—they stopped by a quiet, secluded garden.
As Bam watched Khun admire the flowers with a small, serene smile, he was suddenly struck with sharp, vicious longing.
Before his nerves could desert him, Bam leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Khun’s cheek, the way Endorsi had done at the end of their date. “Thank you for such a great date. I had a lot of fun today! At first, I was pretty nervous since I was going on a date with you and I’ve only ever been on one other date before this, but-”
He trailed off when he realized that Khun didn’t seem to be listening. “This was a date?” Khun’s voice was strangled.
Bam’s heart dropped. “Yes? I thought you knew?”
Khun looked baffled. “How could I have known?”
“I asked if you were free? And it was just the two of us spending time together today? Isn’t that what a date is?” A sudden thought occurred to him just then. “Wait,” Bam said, horrified. “Did I just force you into going on a date with me? I’m so sorry! I thought you knew since we-”
Khun held out a hand, looking pained. “A moment, please.”
Bam waited nervously. He messed up. What he did was inexcusable. He actually tricked his best friend into a date. Khun must hate him for sure now, if he didn’t already. Forget returning his feelings, at this rate, Khun might not even want to be his friend anymore. Bam didn’t know what he would do if that happened.
Khun abruptly whipped his head towards him with great urgency. He looked like he had just come to a great revelation. “This was a date.”
Bam blinked. “Yes.”
“You went on a date. With me.”
“Yes?”
Khun shook his head, still looking confused for some reason. “Why?”
Bam looked away, not wanting to see the rejection on his face. “I thought it would be obvious by now.”
But Khun carefully tilted his chin with gentle fingers, silently urging him to meet his eyes again. “Please, Bam,” he said softly. “I need to hear it.”
Bam dug deep for the last remnants of his bravery. “I asked you out on a date because I like you, Khun. I have for a very long time now.” It was almost a relief to finally have the words out in the open.
“You like me,” Khun echoed. “Like, as a friend, right?”
Bam could only shake his head because really, how did he not know? “Definitely more than just as a friend. I know you don’t feel the same way, but-”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Khun interrupted. “Who said anything about me not feeling the same way?”
Hope fluttered weakly in his chest. Bam couldn’t actually be this lucky, could he? “But you seemed so distressed.”
Khun was holding a hand to his head. “If I seem distressed, it’s because I’m still trying to process the fact that the person I’ve been in love with since forever ago just told me that we were on a date this whole time and that he, impossibly enough, also returns my feelings. I’m still reeling over everything I just learned and will probably have some sort of meltdown in the privacy of my own lighthouse later, so forgive me if I’m not reacting in an appropriate manner.”
Bam didn’t hear anything past the first sentence. “You’re in love with me?” he repeated, awed.
Khun shot him a slightly exasperated look. “That’s the part you’re stuck on? Yes, Bam, I’m unquestionably in love with you. I can’t even remember a time when I haven’t been in love with you.”
Bam shook his head a bit wonderingly. He would never get tired of hearing Khun say he loved him. “If you didn’t think this was a date, then what did you think it was?”
Khun gave a slightly helpless shrug. “I thought it was one of our usual hangouts?”
Bam blinked incomprehensibly. “We went out to lunch. Together. Alone. Just the two of us.”
Khun winced faintly. “I know.”
“We went shopping. Together. You even bought me jewelry!”
Khun’s wince was looking more like a cringe now. “I know.”
“You’re one of the smartest, most observant people I know,” Bam pointed out because, just, what? “You can hatch complicated twenty-step plans with contingency plans on top of contingency plans in the time it takes most people to process a situation. How did you not realize this was a date?”
Khun’s cringe had evolved into a full-blown grimace. “In my defense, I’ve been told that I can’t be objective when it comes you.”
Bam deflated a bit. He was a little disappointed that their long-awaited date had turned out to be not so much a date, but it wasn’t exactly Khun’s fault that Bam never outright stated this was a date.
The important thing is—here his heart started beating faster—Khun felt the same way he did. There would always be another chance to ask him out on a date. Bam opened his mouth to apologize and try again when Khun beat him to it.
“Sorry, I’m not usually this slow to the uptake,” Khun said with a wry smile. “It’s kind of a novel experience for me. Anyways, let me try this again. Are you free tomorrow, Bam?”
“I-I am.” Bam couldn’t help but stutter when faced with the full force of Khun’s attention.
Khun smiled fondly. “In that case, would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow?”
Bam’s eyes lit up. “I’d love to!”
Khun leaned in to press a soft, fleeting kiss to Bam’s cheek, mirroring his gesture from earlier. “It’s a date then.”