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He eyes the cake in the distance, the vibrant red layers contrasting with the white cream on top, and, with a final glance at one of the reading cubicles, he stands up from his seat and is at the counter before his brain catches up with his actions.
The girl behind the counter is typing something on her phone with a mild smile, but she looks up when he notices Jeongguk there and raises one of her eyebrows. He has interacted with her enough to notice that she’s not thrilled to be here tonight, and Jeongguk gets the feeling. Especially considering the date and that there are only three people, including herself, at the café right now.
“Another hot chocolate?” she says when she hops off of her stool.
“No. Well, yes but, huh, can I have two slices of the Christmas cake, please?”
“Two?”
He feels his cheeks getting warm and looks very intently at the cake to avoid meeting her eyes. “Yes, please.”
Jeongguk thinks he hears her muttering ‘cute’, which makes him want to get out of here and forget the last minute even more. He is about to say that they’re both for himself and discard his initial idea when she speaks again.
“I’m sure he’ll like it.”
Jeongguk has to stop himself from saying ‘I know’ because that would be more incriminating. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I just thought about doing something nice because it’s Christmas.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “Let me get the knife.”
Despite whatever she’s thinking, Jeongguk was not lying. He has no secret intentions for bringing this guy a slice of cake other than feeling a little bit lonely all of sudden and seeing someone that was also alone at 2 am in a café on Christmas night. He thought that it could be a good idea to have a kind gesture so they could share some of their loneliness. Selfish, maybe, but Jeongguk prefers to think that it’s the holiday spirit.
The thing is that Jeongguk has trouble sleeping. It’s not that he can never sleep, he doesn’t even think of it as a serious problem, but there are nights where sleep doesn’t come to him, no matter what he does. He has tried almost everything he can think of to try to fall asleep on those nights, but nothing has worked for him. Staying in bed and trying to force himself to sleep only left him frustrated and the four walls of his bedroom suffocated him. So, in the end, he resigned himself to not being able to sleep from time to time and use those hours for something.
One night, when he was so restless that he desperately needed to get out of the apartment and move, he discovered this cozy all-night café by pure luck. The place wasn't part of any big coffee chains and, from outside, it looked peaceful and quiet, and that was enough to make Jeongguk go inside. He wasn't wrong.
Jeongguk immediately liked the place, and he found himself going there on his sleepless nights. With the workload of his Master's degree, he usually worked on papers and essays on his computer until the first rays of light came through the shop's windows.
The place was also one of the book cafés that are scattered around Seoul and that people seemed to like so much. Jeongguk is not an avid reader, but when he doesn't have to work on anything, he grabs a comic from the shelves and lies down on one of the reading cube-shaped reading spaces. The cushions are comfortable and the cube gives a sense of safeness. Jeongguk likes it.
During his night escapades to the café, Jeongguk noticed that there is another regular to the place. This guy usually sits on one of the tables and works on his computer with his headphones on all the time he’s there. He can’t be much older than Jeongguk, and there is something about him that attracts Jeongguk inexplicably, not in the sense of physical attraction per se (although Jeongguk has eyes and can admit that the guy is attractive), but more like watching him working and drinking from his mug gives Jeongguk peace. This stranger doesn’t know it, but Jeongguk is really thankful to him for making his restless nights more bearable, somehow.
After spending so much time looking at him, he noticed the man’s liking for pastries; he usually orders something sweet along with his drink. Jeongguk also noticed how his always eyes get bigger when he takes the first bite of whatever he is having that night, which he finds extremely cute.
Seeing the Christmas cake, the idea came immediately to him. He has been watching Sweet Guy tonight as well, and he still hasn’t ordered anything to eat, so it seemed logical to bring him a slice of cake. Deep down Jeongguk feels that if he does this, he is kind of thanking him for keeping him company on those sleepless nights, although being unaware of it.
In his mind, it made perfect sense. Until Hana got the wrong idea and now she has that smirk on her face while she cuts the cake.
“Which one do you want for him?”
At first, he doesn’t know what she’s talking about until he sees her finger pointing at the Christmas decorations.
“Do I get to choose?”
“Yeah, but only because you’re you and I want you to succeed with your crush.”
“It’s not my crush, I told you.”
“You can’t see your face when you look at him. Don’t think I haven’t noticed, mister.” She says, pointing at Jeongguk with her knife. He shuts his mouth because she looks intimidating and he doesn’t know how to defend himself. “Which one: Santa, the penguin or the tree?”
Jeongguk looks at the reading cube, Sweet Guy’s with his back to them and his headphones on, unaware of their conversation. He looks at the cake again, biting his lip, assessing the little sugar figurines.
“I suggest the penguin. I think he will like that one,” she says.
She looks so amused with the whole thing that Jeongguk kind of hates her. Only a little, though, because she’s always nice to him and she makes very tasty hot chocolate. She also likes to make fun of Jeongguk, it seems. “Okay, that one. And don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not!” She laughs saying that which proves Jeongguk’s point.
“Sure. Give me my order and let me be a nice human being in peace,” Jeongguk says, lightheartedly.
Hana puts the slice of cake with the penguin on a plate and cuts another one for Jeongguk. “It’s cute, that’s all I’m saying,” she says, grabbing a mug and pouring some hot chocolate for Jeongguk.
“What about you? Any plans for today?”
She hums, putting Jeongguk’s order in a tray. “My girlfriend is coming to pick me up when my shift ends and then we’re going to grab something to eat and spend the day in our apartment.”
“Nice plan.”
Jeongguk pays for the order and takes the tray, turning to his target and gathering the courage to walk there.
“Go for it. And don’t worry about me being noisy, I have more interesting things to do than watch you two fools, like texting my girlfriend.”
She gives him a thumbs up and goes up to her stool again and, true to her word, she picks up her phone and starts texting. Jeongguk nods to himself and begins to walk.
The problem comes once he reaches the reading cube. Sweet Guy still has his back to Jeongguk, sitting cross-legged inside the cube, facing the opposite way of the entrance. Jeongguk clears his throat to try to make his presence known, but Sweet Guy has his headphones on and doesn’t hear Jeongguk.
Jeongguk starts to question if this is a good idea again but, although he would like to go back to his previous seat and take the tray and the two slices of cake with him, he tells himself that he can’t back down now. He puts the tray on the floor and crouches down, stretching out his arm and tapping on the stranger’s shoulder before he can change his mind.
Sweet Guy turns his head with a little crease between his brows that disappears as soon as he sees Jeongguk, looking shocked to see him there. Jeongguk doesn’t blame him. He takes his headphones off and offers a kind, tentative smile to Jeongguk.
“Hello?” he says, his voice deeper than Jeongguk had imagined.
“Hello, sorry for bothering you.”
God, he didn’t think this through. What did he think, that he would come here and would give him the cake without having to explain? He is not good with words. This has been a mistake.
He tries to come up with something to say that doesn’t make him look like a creep, but his brain is not cooperating, and the seconds keep passing, and the guy is looking at him expectantly.
“Can I help you with something?”
Say something.
“Yeah, sorry. I mean, no. Look, I hope you don’t find this weird but I bought this slice of cake for you? That sounded like a question, but it’s not, I got it for you,” he laughs awkwardly, making a gesture at the tray on the floor at his side. “I’ve seen you here some nights and, since it’s Christmas today and it seems like you and I will be spending the night here alone, I thought that I could bring you something? And I’m realizing now that it sounds stupid and that it sounded a lot better in my head, sorry, forget that I said anything.”
Jeongguk’s whole face is burning. He wants the ground to swallow him and forget that this happened. He turns in a mild panic to grab the tray again and start running but Sweet Guy speaks again before he stands up.
“Wait! Don’t go,” he says. Jeongguk stops with his hands on each side of the tray and takes a look at the guy, who has turned fully to him and has the upper half of his body out of the cube. “You got that for me?”
Jeongguk nods and grabs the plate with the penguin. “The holiday spirit, I guess. You don’t have to accept it, I know it’s weird.”
“No! It’s not weird, that’s actually really nice. Oh my god, thank you so much, you didn’t have to.” Sweet Guy has completely stepped out of the cube now, and his face has brightened up as much as the decorations above his head. He is looking at the plate that Jeongguk has in his hands and, if buying him a piece of cake has him smiling like that, Jeongguk would buy an entire cake for him every time he sees him. “That’s so cute.”
For a second, Jeongguk thinks he’s saying that to him and his heart does a back-flip, but then, he follows the guy’s eyes and sees that he is looking at the penguin. He tries not to be too disappointed.
“If you like it then here, it’s for you,” Jeongguk says, handing him the plate. Sweet Guy accepts it, the smile not leaving his face. “Have a happy Christmas!”
Jeongguk stands up and takes the tray with the rest of his order, being equally embarrassed and satisfied with the whole situation, but at least, he did it.
“Do you want to stay here for a while?”
Jeongguk stops in his tracks, turning to look at the guy again to make sure that he heard correctly. He is standing now outside of the cube as well. Jeongguk knew he was tall from looking at him wandering through the café before, but it still surprises him how big he looks up close.
“As you said, we’re both alone and it’s Christmas, so we could eat the cake together, if you want? Oh, I’m Namjoon, by the way.”
“You seemed to be busy with your computer, I don’t want to bother you.”
“You won’t, trust me. Let me rephrase that: I would love to enjoy your company for a while tonight.”
Jeongguk’s stomach does a funny thing and he has to remember himself to breathe normally. How is this man so dreamy? Jeongguk feels like he is having a moment here. “If you don’t mind, okay.”
It’s the only thing he manages to say, but it still makes Namjoon’s smile grow bigger, and with that, a pair of dimples appear in the middle of his cheeks, making Jeongguk's knees go weak. He almost asks him where he has been all his life.
“Well, come on in,” Namjoon says, making an exaggerated gesture with his arms in the direction of the cube’s entrance. He laughs awkwardly right after he does it, scrunching his face, like he’s regretting doing that. Jeongguk finds himself endeared with it.
Jeongguk takes off his shoes and puts his backpack on the cube’s entrance, crawling inside behind Namjoon and taking the tray with him as well. They sit facing each other, with their backs resting on the cube’s walls. “I like these,” Jeongguk says.
“Me too. They are cozy and give you a sense of privacy.” Namjoon crosses his long legs and puts the plate with the cake on his lap. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Oh, right, sorry, I didn’t tell you. I’m Jeongguk.”
“Nice to meet you, Jeongguk. Thank you again for the cake, you made my night. Can I?” he asks, lifting his plate a little.
Jeongguk is literally going to die tonight. He is not going to survive and the worst thing is that Hana will be smug because she was right.
“Of course,” he grabs his plate as well and takes a sip from his mug.
Namjoon takes a spoonful of his cake and his eyes do the same thing that Jeongguk has seen them do multiple times from afar. “This is amazing!”
Jeongguk laughs, tasting his as well. “Mmh, it’s nice. Very sweet.”
“Well, I have a sweet tooth, so you made the right choice with this.” Namjoon keeps eating the cake and Jeongguk, not knowing what to say or do, mimics him. The silence extends to awkward territory and Jeongguk has never been good with these kinds of things. While searching desperately for something to say, Namjoon saves the situation. “I couldn’t help but notice that you are also a regular customer here during the night shift.”
“Yeah. I usually come here when I can’t sleep. I prefer to come here than to stay at my apartment.”
“That makes two of us, then,” Namjoon says, with a sympathetic smile. “It’s the same for me. It happens more than I would like.”
“Do you have insomnia?”
Namjoon purses his lips in thought, taking a few seconds before he responds. "I don't think it's insomnia. It's like my brain doesn't shut down on some nights. My thoughts are too loud and I get carried away by them. Other nights I say to myself that I won't go to sleep before I finish what I'm working on. And before you say anything, I know it’s not healthy.”
Jeongguk raises his free hand in the air. “I can’t judge, I’m here as well, aren’t I?” They both laugh lightly before Jeongguk continues. “For me, it’s more that I am awful at maintaining good habits, you know? Like some days I sleep past noon and of course at night I’m wide awake.”
“But don’t you… nevermind.”
“What?”
Namjoon suddenly looks very interested in a loose thread in his pants. “Nothing, I was going to say that you look like you,” he makes a vague gesture at Jeongguk’s body, “exercise a lot,” he says, and it’s almost comical how much he looks like he wishes he had not said that. Namjoon’s cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink. “Isn’t that supposed to help to sleep?”
“I do exercise, but I don’t think it helps, no.”
“Right.” He clears his throat and puts aside the plate after eating the last bite of the cake. “So we both have sleeping problems and use this café as a coping mechanism. I’m sure there’s a therapist somewhere pulling their hair out as we speak.”
Jeongguk finishes his cake too and rests his head on the wall after pulling his plate aside and taking another sip from his mug. “Yeah.” He looks at Namjoon’s computer and his curiosity wins. “You seemed busy.”
“Oh, yeah. Like, I’m not ‘busy’ but I come here to force myself to work, I guess. I'm a music producer, that’s why I’m always with my headphones on."
“Really?" Jeongguk can feel his eyes widening with Namjoon’s answer but he can’t help it; every detail that he discovers about him is making him one of the coolest people that Jeongguk has ever met.
Namjoon nods, scratching the back of his head. "Yes, but when I come here I usually work on my own music, not work-related music. Like a hobby."
“That’s amazing. I love music.”
Namjoon may be cool, but Jeongguk is the lamest person on earth. ‘I love music’, why is he like this?
Thankfully, Namjoon doesn’t run away and, instead, he laughs lightly with Jeongguk’s response. It isn’t a mean laugh; Jeongguk doesn’t think he is laughing at him. Or if he is, he will probably forgive him if it means that he gets to hear that wonderful sound.
“We have something in common, then. What about you? What do you do when you come here?”
“I study or work on projects for my Master’s degree. I’m a literature student.”
“Wow!” Namjoon exclaims loudly, startling Jeongguk who was not expecting that reaction. “I love books.”
For a second, Jeongguk thinks that he is making fun of him, but after looking at the genuine expression on his face, it’s clear that he’s not. They both look at each other for a second and start cracking up at the same time. Namjoon’s eyes disappear and his smile lets Jeongguk see all of his teeth. He is truly gone.
“Could you show me? How do you work on songs?” he asks, because he needs to see. He needs to know everything he can about how this man’s brain.
“Only if you tell me things about books.”
“Deal.”
Namjoon takes his computer from the tiny table inside the cube where he was working before and holds it to his chest, sitting up on his knees in front of Jeongguk. “Can I?” he asks, pointing to the space next to Jeongguk.
Jeongguk nods, moving a little to the side to leave more room for Namjoon, eager to see whatever he wants to show him. The cubicle isn’t very big, so when he sits down and rests his back on the wall, their shoulders touch. Jeongguk tries not to visibly react to that.
“Okay, this is the program I use. And see? This is the song I was working on, and these are things I was using to create it. Today was not a creative day, to be honest, that’s why there isn’t much done on this track.”
“I know the feeling. Those days suck.”
“They do. Some days I stare at the blank file and nothing sounds good, and I end up having an existential crisis. But then, other days I sit down and everything comes easily to me. I think you need the first kinds of days to have the productive days, does that make sense?”
Jeongguk considers his words for a moment. “Yeah.”
Just like that, Namjoon proceeds to explain how is a song produced, and Jeongguk pays attention to every single word completely fascinated.
He is so engrossed in everything that Namjoon is saying that he loses track of time, and only remembers where he is when he sees movement outside the reading cube out of the corner of his eye.
Hana squeals and runs to the entrance of the café, opening the door and stepping outside, leaving the counter unattended. Jeongguk frowns, confused with her behavior, and Namjoon, who has also stopped talking, looks equally confused with her outburst.
Through the glass, Jeongguk can see her talking with her phone with excitement visible in her body. He is about to crawl outside of the cube and go see if anything happened when he sees it. Tiny white speckles falling down in the street.
Jeongguk rushes to take a look from the tiny window placed inside the cube. “It’s snowing!”
He hears a tiny oh coming from Namjoon, who leans forward to get closer to the window, but meaning that he also gets closer to Jeongguk. He smells so good.
Then it dawns on Jeongguk that this is the first snow of the winter, and that’s why Hana reacted that way.
His heartbeat quickens thinking about the meaning of this. He is really seeing the first fall of snow with Namjoon. Jeongguk tries not to get his hopes up, but this is a signal, it has to be. Jeongguk has been waiting for something like this to happen to him his whole life and—
“I hate global warming. The first snowfall is supposed to be at the end of November or the start of December. We’re destroying the planet.”
It’s like he threw a bucket of cold water over Jeongguk’s head.
Of course that Namjoon does not see him like that. For him, he is just probably a stranger to talk to and feel less lonely tonight. Jeongguk kind of deserves it, if he’s honest. He needed to stop his dreamy non-sense.
The front door of the café opens again and Hana comes back inside, still on her phone.
“Who could she possibly be talking to? She looked excited outside.”
“Her girlfriend.”
Namjoon nods, with a tiny smile on his lips, but suddenly, his body goes very rigid, and he slowly turns his head to look at Jeongguk with wide eyes. Jeongguk looks at his own socked feet instead, not wanting to give away the silly little fantasies that were in his head just a few seconds ago.
After a very uncomfortable silence that wasn’t probably very long but it felt like ages to Jeongguk, Namjoon clears his throat and speaks again. “Hey, let me buy you something,” he says, giving Jeongguk’s shoulder a nudge with his own. “It’s only fair. You buy me something, I buy you something.”
“No, no. You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” Namjoon says. He is already getting out of the cube and Jeongguk’s protest dies on his tongue.
Jeongguk watches him walking to the counter and interchanging some words with Hana. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but Hana looks at him with that smirk again and Jeongguk can’t take it. He leans out of the cube to take his computer from his backpack and brings it inside with him to have something to do.
Not long after that, Namjoon comes back, crawling inside after taking off his shoes with a new plate in his hand. When Jeongguk looks closer, he sees two identical cupcakes, with a soft blue paper and a snowflake standing out on top.
“I hope you like cupcakes,” he says, sitting next to Jeongguk again. He doesn’t know if he’s imagining it but it feels like he is sitting closer to him this time.
“I do. I’m not a picky eater at all.”
“Then here, this is for you.” He takes one of the cupcakes and offers it to Jeongguk.
When he takes it, their fingers brush, and Namjoon smiles softly at him. Jeongguk’s heart flutters once again without his consent.
“I thought it was fitting, given the circumstances,” he says, gesturing with his head towards the window and fidgeting under Jeongguk’s eyes after. “What were you doing?” he asks, taking his cupcake and making himself comfortable with the cushions.
“I’m writing an essay about the social injustice depicted in The Tale of Chunhyang.” Jeongguk takes a bite of the cake and it’s delicious. He lets out an appreciative sound.
“That’s impressive,” he says, the awe obvious in his voice. Jeongguk wants to tell him that it’s nothing special, but he is overwhelmed by the way that Namjoon is looking at him. “Can you tell me about it, please?”
It’s impossible to say no to that, so he does. Namjoon gives him his full attention, like what is coming out of Jeongguk’s mouth is the most interesting thing that he has ever heard, and Jeongguk feels equally flattered and flustered at the same time.
“Enough talking about my essay. Now it’s only fair that you show me your music. You only told me about the process before, but you didn’t show me the results.”
Namjoon shakes his head, laughing. “Okay, but don’t judge, please. Have in mind that I don’t do this professionally, I only upload some of my songs to SoundCloud.”
“What do I need to do for you to tell me your username?”
Namjoon giggles, his face scrunching adorably, and Jeongguk’s world kind of stops right there and then. Like having an epiphany. Like knowing that he is not going to be able to continue with his life if he doesn’t hear that again.
“You don’t need to do anything, I’ll tell you later if you like the music,” Namjoon says bashfully.
Namjoon puts one of his earphones in Jeongguk’s ear, touching lightly the skin with the pad of his fingers. It burns where he touched and Jeongguk wants him to have his hands on him all the time.
But when the music starts to play, he forgets about that because he has an out-of-body experience. The instrumental is so, so good. Soothing. Something that you would play when you’re very stressed or anxious.
And then, it comes the rapping. Namjoon’s rapping.
It’s smooth, and deep, and slow, and Jeongguk has a full-body shiver just from hearing it. It’s the best thing that he has ever heard, and he doesn’t even have words to express how he feels.
The song ends, Jeongguk still in shock, and Namjoon asks softly, “What do you think?”
“Are you kidding? This is the best song I heard in my life!” he exclaims when he recovers, his words echoing in the café.
“Aish, you don’t need to exaggerate.”
“I’m not exaggerating, I’m now your number one fan. Give me your username, I need it like breathing.”
Namjoon shakes his head, and he is blushing. Jeongguk did that. It’s what he deserves because he was only telling the truth.
“Stop it,” he huffs a laugh. “I’ll tell you but you have to promise me something. You listen to it while you work on your essay. I don’t want to be responsible for an F.”
So they do that. Namjoon types rkivemusic in Jeongguk’s computer and Jeongguk puts his own headphones on to listen to every track that it’s there. At first, he just listens to it, completely amazed by Namjoon’s talent, but then Namjoon pinches him on his side and Jeongguk tries to focus on his essay. Only because he is ticklish.
They work in silence in their own thing. Namjoon keeps working on the track he was telling Jeongguk about before, and he mutters under his breath things every now and then. Jeongguk doesn’t mind; he finds it comforting. Namjoon’s presence feels to him like a warm drink on a cold day.
Jeongguk actually gets some work done, something that future Jeongguk will thank him for, but at some point, he rests his head on the wall and closes his eyes to enjoy the feeling of Namjoon’s music in his ears and Namjoon’s presence by his side.
When he opens his eyes again, the first thing he notices is that there is more silence than when he closed them. He frowns, confused about where he is at first, until he looks at his surroundings. He sees that his computer is not on his lap anymore but on the tiny table of the cube with his earphones on top. In his lap, there is a soft blanket now covering him.
A snore right beside his ear startles him. That’s when he notices that he is not leaning against the wall; his head is on Namjoon’s shoulder. Namjoon isn’t working anymore and it seems like he has also fallen asleep, his head on top of Jeongguk’s head.
Jeongguk is sleepy and tired, and he doesn’t have the strength to deal with this right now, so he decides to go back to sleep.
The next time he wakes up, they’re both lying down in the middle of the cubicle, and Jeongguk has no idea how they got there. Namjoon’s arm is wrapped loosely around Jeongguk’s waist. Jeongguk should be panicking, but he feels so calm and rested, that he doesn’t want to move ever again.
He looks up and sees the first rays of light in the sky through the window, meaning that they have been sleeping for at least a couple of hours. He stretches out and yawns, contemplating if he should get up before Namjoon wakes up and things get awkward.
“Good morning.”
Namjoon’s voice is raspy, and Jeongguk sees his face puffy and his expression relaxed when he turns to look at him.
“Morning.”
Now Jeongguk is starting to freak out.
“We feel asleep,” he says, rubbing his face and yawning, like it’s something normal. “I think we both needed that.”
Jeongguk looks at him, sees the hint of stubble on his chin and upper lip. He could probably count his eyelashes with how close they are.
He gets up before he does something stupid.
“I should probably get going and try to catch a few more hours of sleep at home.”
Namjoon watches Jeongguk putting his things inside his backpack with a frown and sits up. “Me too. I think her shift is ending anyway, so yeah.”
Jeongguk looks outside and sees Hana putting away things from the counter. Namjoon also starts to gather his things and, after they’re done, they step out of the cube in silence and begin to walk towards the front door.
“Look at the sleeping beauties!” Hana says when they’re passing by the counter. “I made you both coffee the way you like it to take away. On the house.”
“Thank you so much,” Namjoon says, bowing a little.
“Thank you, Hana, you’re the best.”
“I know. Now, go away, you two. I’ll see you soon. Merry Christmas!”
They grab their disposable cups and start to walk towards the entrance.
“Hey, I had fun tonight,” Namjoon says, opening the door so they both can step outside.
“Me too. And your mu—”
Jeongguk stops in his tracks when Namjoon grabs his wrist. He has stopped one step behind him and is standing at the threshold looking at him.
“What?”
Namjoon looks up, Jeongguk follows his eyes. And he sees it. The mistletoe.
Jeongguk doesn’t know if he is losing his mind, doesn’t know if he is misreading this, if he has misread the whole night, but the same impulse that made him buy the cake a few hours ago invades him again.
There, with the first rays of light reaching Seoul’s streets and a thin layer of snow at their feet, he surges forward and pecks Namjoon on the lips.
It’s only a peck that lasts a millisecond, but when Jeongguk pulls back, Namjoon is smiling with his whole face, and his eyes are shining so bright that he is putting the snow to shame.
“Traditions should be respected,” Namjoon says. He still has his hand wrapped around Jeongguk’s wrist.
Jeongguk looks inside the café and sees Hana looking at them, bouncing and silently clapping. “Indeed. They should.” This time, Jeongguk doesn’t fight back the smile that forms on his lips.
“You know what? We should do that again. I bet our bodies would be on board for more sleep dates.”
“Agree. It seemed to work for both of us.”
Namjoon looks at him, his cheeks and tiny nose red from the cold. He is so handsome that Jeongguk could cry. “And maybe, we could try a real date when we’re not sleep-deprived. How does that sound?”
Jeongguk’s heart is about to jump out of his chest. He frees his wrist from Namjoon’s hand and interlaces their fingers, feeling Namjoon’s soft palm against his. “Sounds like a plan.”