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Choi Han was sitting in his room. He had just recently returned from his usual morning training, had eaten, and was now deciding what to do. The children weren't home today - they were out in the village with Mary and the wolves.
Suddenly his recent thoughts came back to Choi Han's mind. Then he pondered the fact that he and Cale, always being near each other, never took a walk just the two of them...
Choi Han didn't want too much. They could just have a friendly sit in some cafe, then take a walk in the park, maybe end the evening drinking together in a bar.
Because... Cale had been drinking with Bud, drinking with Alberu, even drinking with Tunka!
But never with Choi Han.
The reason, of course, was simple. Cale didn't ignore Choi Han, it was just that all these people invited him first.
So all Choi Han had to do was invite Cale to spend the day together.
With a determined look, he got up and went to Cale's room.
***
- Cale-nim.
Cale flinched slightly before he looked away from the book he had been reading before and turned to Choi Han.
- Yes...?
For some reason, Cale looked like he was a little nervous, but Choi Han decided not to focus on that now - he could figure out the reason later. Now...
- Cale-nim, maybe we could go out somewhere?
The request was innocent enough, but Cale's reaction was strange.
- T-Today...?
"Why is he blushing...?"
Choi Han frowned, taking a few steps closer to Cale and placing his hand on Cale's forehead.
- Are you feeling bad...?
"He doesn't want to come with me...?"
Choi Han felt frustrated. Yes, it was quite possible that Cale had already made up his plans for the day, and Choi Han wasn't a part of them...
Or maybe he just didn't want to go out with him alone.
- If you don't want to go, I don't insist...
- No, I'm going. When are we going out?
But Cale suddenly interrupted him, rising excitedly from the chair where he'd been sitting earlier.
"Ah."
Suddenly Choi Han understood the reason for Cale's strange behavior.
"Could it be that he is as excited about such an event as I am...?"
A smile blossomed on his face at the thought.
Well, it could be true. He and Cale were... friends, and yet, they never went out together. It really bothered Choi Han... But maybe he wasn't the only one who thought about it?
- Mmm... At one o'clock?
Choi Han wanted to go for a nice friendly walk with Cale, but...
That didn't mean he didn't give the event a great deal of importance.
Leaving Cale's room and heading back to his own, Choi Han opened the closet.
Not a lot of clothes were out there. He usually didn't pay much attention to what he wore, preferring the same kind of shirts and pants, hidden by his favorite cape anyway.
However, could he look like he always did on such a momentous day?
"Wait."
Choi Han, involuntarily reaching for a nice parade suit, the only thing in his closet suitable for the occasion, stopped himself.
"We're just two friends going out for a little walk and then having a drink together."
He didn't need any parade clothes. He would look stupid in it, and Cale would be puzzled.
Choi Han decided he'd better dress as usual.
***
He and Cale had just moved into the capital using a teleportation scroll. There were many places to walk, and many good cafes and restaurants. Choi Han was a little nervous, occasionally looking to the right where Cale was standing.
He was wearing, as always, a great-looking outfit - a white shirt, a fitted vest of dark green with gold patterns, and black pants. He also smelled something nice, like...
"Is that... perfume...?"
Choi Han wasn't sure if Cale had ever used it before. Except at receptions, when he'd been sprayed with it by Hans without asking permission.
Choi Han felt strange now. For some reason it seemed to him as if Cale had dressed up for this walk, but...
"I must have imagined it."
Cale always looked like that. He always looked like he had a dozen stylists working on him, even though he didn't do anything for it.
The only thing that spoiled the image was the slight dark circles under his eyes.
"Didn't he sleep...?"
It bothered Choi Han that perhaps Cale was sick after all, but hid it from him.
It also bothered Choi Han that Cale's face was a little frowny.
- Choi Han. Don't you have any other clothes than these?
"Shit."
A little embarrassed, Choi Han replied.
- Just the parade suit...
Cale even stumbled in surprise. Choi Han gently held him by the waist, preventing him from falling.
- You went to the capital so many times without me, and you still haven't bought yourself normal clothes?
There was a look of genuine surprise in Cale's eyes.
- Why should I... I'm comfortable in these.
Skepticism was in Cale's eyes, and he said in a tone that left no room for argument.
- We have to go to the clothing store today. I was sure you only wore this at home...
At that moment, however, Cale cut his speech short, suddenly blushing again.
"He really is sick."
- Cale-nim, are you sure you're okay? Your face is red. Maybe we should go back.
- N-No, there's no need. Let's go...
Choi Han still wasn't satisfied with his answer, but he still didn't feel that Cale's temperature was any higher than usual.
But his breathing wasn't quite normal...
Choi Han decided that he would keep a closer eye on Cale today - perhaps he was lying and not feeling well after all.
- Yes, Cale-nim.
With those words, Choi Han took his arm from Cale's waist and walked forward.
They were going to walk in the park for a while, and then find a cafe of some kind. Then they would go to the streets of the city to walk there.
***
- ...And then Raon said he could move the whole tree to another place. Can you imagine? They're going to move a poor tree that's stood in one place for almost a hundred years, just because they didn't have a wide enough playground.
Choi Han nodded seriously, thinking that he hoped Cale wouldn't find out that he was the one who had advised the wolves to just get rid of the tree that was in the way.
His first idea had simply been to cut it down.
It was now evening, and they were sitting in the VIP room at a fine, expensive bar. Cale was now laying his head in his arms, and complaining about the children making a fuss in the village. Choi Han, of course, already knew most of it, but he wasn't going to stop the stream of complaints from the slightly drunken Cale.
"I didn't know he was capable of getting drunk..."
Choi Han thought that the Vitality of the Heart helped Cale's already alcohol-resistant body not to get drunk vwry well.
But apparently this ability had its limit after all.
"Well, we've drunk quite a lot already."
Choi Han looked a little frustrated at his glass of something very strong. It was as if, along with being immune to many poisons, his body had become immune to alcohol. He felt only a slight dizziness and a little...
Courage?
Choi Han suddenly looked at Cale again, thinking that they were sitting too far away.
They were separated by a whole table, it was too far away.
"It's normal for friends to sit next to each other, isn't it? In bars, people sit next to each other. We're sitting so far away because it's a VIP room..."
Choi Han put his glass on the table next to Cale's place, then stood up and moved over there.
It was a VIP room with two sofas and a table between them. Up to this point they had been sitting across from each other, but now...
Swaying slightly, Choi Han sat quite close to Cale.
- Choi Han...?
- Cale-nim...
Cale's hair was so beautiful and long...
"I want to touch it."
Obeying the sudden urge, Choi Han raised his hand and gently ran it through Cale's hair.
- So soft...
The strand of hair was silky and soft. Choi Han wanted to touch it more. To touch that precious treasure...
"I wonder what they smell like...?"
Choi Han moved closer to Cale, inhaling the scent of his hair around his ear. The soft floral scent tickled his imagination, and suddenly Choi Han was interested in what Cale's skin smelled like. His neck smelled of perfume.
- Cale-nim...
Choi Han gently took hold of Cale's left hand and then leaned in, inhaling its scent, gently touching it with his lips...
Suddenly the hand that had just been lying obediently moved gently up and reached out to touch Choi Han's face. A second later he felt the touch on his cheeks, and then...
- A?!
Choi Han suddenly felt the strange sensation like he was floating in a fog disappear.
It was as if he had been doused with cold water from a bucket.
Several questions popped into his head in an instant as he touched his lips with a shocked expression.
"What the hell immunity!!! I'm totally drunk!!!!"
"What did I just let myself do?"
And the last, most important question was voiced out loud.
- Cale-nim?! W-What are you doing?
Cale, who had just kissed him lightly on the lips, stared at him, frozen.
- D-Doesn't the first date have to end with a kiss...?
- Аh?.. Date...?
Silence hung in the room.
Choi Han, watching the way Cale's face blushed, recalled mentally the events of the day.
They walked together through the park, feeding the ducks, took a little boat ride, sat in a cafe, and then walked through the streets of the city, stopping at the tailor's and ordering some clothes for Choi Han. After that they went to this bar where they had been drinking until now...
Choi Han remembered again the red face of Cale when he called him to go out together, when he held him by the waist to keep him from falling, when he picked him up in his arms while carrying him over a puddle, or when he took away both oars on the boat...
Or when Cale gave him a chocolate when they had just arrived at the bar.
***
- Choi Han...
Cale was holding a glass of wine in his hand, and at the moment he wasn't taking his eyes off of it.
- Yes, Cale-nim?
There was no answer, but Cale finally put the glass on the table, and then took out and handed to Choi Han a rectangle wrapped in paper and tied with a ribbon.
- It's for you.
Choi Han looked at the gift with surprise but then smiled and accepted it. When he opened it, he found a bar of chocolate. Breaking off a piece, Choi Han tasted it.
- It was delicious. Thank you, Cale-nim.
He didn't know why Cale had suddenly decided to give him chocolate, but Choi Han would never refuse a gift from him.
***
"Was he... embarrassed?! Was he blushing with embarrassment?!?!"
- Choi Han... Isn't this a date...? Aren't... You didn't ask me out because it's St. Valentine's Day...?
Cale asked the question slowly, surprised. His speech was full of bewilderment, as if a theory full of solid logic suddenly fell apart before his eyes.
Choi Han froze.
- The day of... Saint who...?
Suddenly Cale hid his face with his hands.
- Forget it. Just forget it. I'm sorry, I seem to have misunderstood something...
Cale looked like he wanted to sink under the ground right now.
Choi Han froze, slowly realizing something.
- Wait a minute. I... You thought I invited you on a date... And you didn't mind...?
Choi Han began to smile.
Cale, noticing this, frowned slightly.
- You mean... You didn't mind... Dating me...?
Silence hung in the room.
Cale opened his eyes wide in amazement.
- А?..
Then he swallowed and answered in a slightly shaky voice.
- I... I thought we already figured that out this morning... But... Yes.
Cale blushed again, then said decisively.
- Yes, I want to be with you.
Choi Han exhaled when he heard that.
- Cale-nim, I love you.
He was finally able to say the words he had so carefully been hiding earlier.
Who would have thought...
- Choi Han, I love you too, but you're an idiot.
Cale looked a little hurt.
- So I'm the only one who thought we were on a date all day?
***
Cale felt stupid.
He had been preparing for February 14th for weeks, practicing at night making chocolate, striving to make a very tasty one for Choi Han.
He wanted to give the bar to him on Valentine's Day and make sure he felt the same way as he did. If he accepts the bar, it means Cale was right - that Choi Han loves him.
And if he looks at it in a weird way... Cale can tell it's just simple, friendly chocolate.
Choi Han, who got the memories of Choi Jung Soo, should definitely have known about this celebration. Besides, just in case, Cale told the kids in front of Choi Han that such a day existed.
So when Choi Han came to his room on February 14 and invited him to go out together... Cale was glad.
After all, it was the first time Choi Han had asked him out and if it's happened at this particular day... Could it have been anything other than a date?
Of course, it made Cale a little uneasy that Choi Han dressed in the same clothes as usual, but there was a reason for that - he just didn't have any other clothes.
But Choi Han hugged him a couple of times that day, and the date was exactly how it's must look like. Everything they did was what couples on a date are supposed to do...
So when they got to the bar, Cale finally decided to give the chocolate.
...And Choi Han accepted it with a happy face.
Who would have thought that all that day Choi Han not only had no idea about the celebration, but he didn't even know that they were on a date.
- ...That's why you're an idiot.
Now that Cale had told Choi Han about Valentine's Day, Choi Han sat in front of him with a look on his face like a dog who had just been scolded.
- ...Yeah, I'm an idiot. I'm sorry I didn't listen to what you said to the kids back then...
- But... You were looking so intently. I was sure you were listening...
Choi Han froze, averting his eyes.
- Um... Your shirt was a little pulled up... I... I wasn't listening to what you were saying. I... I was watching...
Cale blushed, realizing that Choi Han was staring at his naked skin instead of listening to what he was so diligently telling him.
- Cale-nim.
- Yes, Choi Han?
Choi Han looked straight into Cale's eyes with a serious expression on his face.
Then he moved forward, exhaling a question on Cale's lips.
- Can I kiss you...?
He froze, unmoving, as if he were really a faithful dog waiting for a command.
Cale, seeing this amusing picture, couldn't help but smile.
- Wouldn't you do it if I said no?
The answer, however, made goosebumps run down his skin.
- ...Cale-nim... Now that I know you don't mind being in a relationship with me...
Choi Han's gaze was greedy and full of desire.
- I'm not sure I can hold out.
The next second, a kiss closed Cale's mouth, preventing him from responding.