Work Text:
At the moment, Heeseung is regretting having told Jay and Jungwon that he would be going with them to the aquarium on Friday to see the new turtle exhibit.
He had an Environmental Analysis and Management paper due next week, and he also had to start studying Urban Planning and Infrastructure, this is because he feels that is falling behind the rest of the class in this subject.
He also had to find some time to help Sunoo and Niki with the LGBTQIA+ club activities at the college. On top of that, he and Sunghoon were working together on a civil engineering project that had to be completed soon, the deadline was fast approaching and there was still a lot to do.
The last thing he wanted to worry about was going to the aquarium to see the turtles. However, he had already made plans with his friends, and Jungwon insisted that he needed a break and to get out of his room for a while, so it was impossible to say no to them.
The three of them were supposed to meet at the subway around eleven fifteen, as soon as Jay's art theory class was over, and if everything went according to plan they would arrive at the aquarium around eleven forty, see the new sea turtle exhibit, have lunch at a nearby restaurant, and probably be back on campus by noon, leaving Heeseung with enough time to study.
They didn't follow the plan.
The three were amazed by the marine life as soon as they set foot in the aquarium. Fish, seahorses and even sharks were displayed in huge tanks for all to see. The children pointed curiously at the glass and asked the guides to explain the strangely shaped and coloured fish they had never seen before. Families laughed as they took pictures without flashes near the glass of the sharks. A group with a guide listened attentively to everything the man said, while another aquarium worker handed out pamphlets about marine life and the importance of recycling to visitors.
Plans to just see the new sea turtle section and leave were immediately forgotten, the three couldn't contain themselves and decided to see everything the aquarium had to offer. When they finally got to the turtles, Jay's phone memory was full from all the photos he had taken along the way.
"If anyone wants to learn about turtles, gather here!" A guide's voice caught Heeseung's attention.
Jungwon wasted no time in grabbing his boyfriend's hand and dragging him to the small group of extremely excited children, and their extremely tired parents, that formed around the guide, Heeseung just followed them with a little less enthusiasm. The employee was in front of a very large tank, where about ten turtles were swimming back and forth. Despite not being in the ocean and there being a glass that allowed everyone to see them, they seemed almost free and quite healthy.
They clearly received better treatment than at any theme park, like Sea World.
“These are Caretta caretta turtles, they are commonly found on the coast of Brazil and, currently, their species is at risk of extinction.” The biologist explained, Jake was what his badge said “I decided to call that one Bob. He's my favorite.”
Heeseung stopped paying attention to the explanation in favor of focusing on the one who spoke. Jake had hair as dark as night, an amused smile on his lips, as he talked to the children about other species of turtles, his eyes seemed to light up, His eyes were as black as the universe and if Heeseung were any closer, he was sure he would drown in their immensity.
He had no idea he was staring until Jake looked right at him. His cheeks turned redder than his newly dyed red hair. His brain kept screaming idiot idiot idiot over and over again. At that moment Heeseung wished a hole would appear, or that he would finally gain invisibility powers, just so he could disappear from the face of the earth.
Jake, oblivious to all of Heeseung's inner suffering, smiled and winked at him.
For a moment Heeseung wondered if it was possible to die of shame, perhaps he would become the first victim of such an embarrassing death.
"Did you see that?" He asked his friends quietly.
"Yes, yes, the pretty turtle guide winked at you. Now be quiet, I'm trying to learn." Jungwon muttered, trying to stand on tiptoe to see under the different heads in front of him.
"Wait what?" Jay asked, raising his voice a few octaves higher than Heeseung would have liked. "When did this happen?" He asked, looking between his boyfriend, Heeseung, and the aquarium worker. “And what do you mean he's pretty?”
"Oh relax, you're way more pretty than him." Jungwon said smiling.
"Can you guys stop flirting? The hot guide winked at me, what do I do?"
"Ask him out." Jungwon offered as if it were simple.
"This won't work, Heeseung doesn't know how to talk to guys or girls when he's sober, he just looks like a playboy but he's actually a nerd with zero social skills."
"Thanks Jay."
It doesn't take long for Jake's explanation about turtles to come to an end, he smiles —Heeseung is sure it's the most beautiful smile he's ever seen in his entire life— and says he'll answer a few more questions before leaves to clean the tanks.
"Look, you just need to ask for his number and ask him out on a date, the worst he can say is no. Come on, it's not that hard, Hee" Jungwon said
"He can say a lot worse things than that."
"Like?"
"I don't know, call me weird? psycho? you know, he's too pretty to be single, he definitely has a partner and I'm just imagining things"
"Oh believe me, he winked at you." Jungwon said seriously, "I saw it with my eyes."
"What if you saw it wrong?"
"My vision is perfect, and I am always right."
"Your vision isn't..." Jay fell silent as soon as he saw his boyfriend's deadly gaze. The fact that someone as small and cute as Jungwon knows how to look at someone in a threatening way is scary. "You're always right."
"Just go there and tell him you think he's beautiful, it's that simple, it worked for me."
"Won, it only worked because Jay had a crush on you since middle school!"
"Well it worked anyway..."
Heeseung had never been nervous to talk to anyone before, he had never been nervous because of someone's gaze, but as soon as Jake looked at him and winked at him his heart had accelerated in a way it had never done before, he felt a chill in his stomach so intense that wondered if a winter on Everest would be similar or worse than what he felt at that moment. He didn't understand how Jungwon expected him to approach a stranger so... Handsome? Perfect? Intensely hot?
Heeseung glanced over his shoulder at Jake. He was talking to a group of girls, who were clearly flirting with him, but it seemed like he wasn’t flirting back. He was just trying to do his job, and these girls seemed to be an unwanted distraction.
"Then go ahead and tell him I think he's cute." Jungwon suggested.
"what!?"
"Why exactly would I do that?"
"Yeah, why would you be interested in him?" Jay practically demanded, raising his eyebrow as high as he could.
"I'm not interested in him. My idea is, Heeseung says I'm interested and then when Jake says that he's not interested in me, Heeseung takes that opportunity to say he's interested in him and gets his number." Jungwon explained his plan with a smile.
"What if he's interested in you?" Jay asked.
"Well, too bad for him, because I already have an amazing boyfriend."
Jungwon and Jay start looking at each other in that totally passionate way, Heeseung takes this as his cue to walk away before they start kissing each other ignoring everyone around them.
He tried to focus on Jungwon's idea. It wasn't a 100% bad plan, it could actually work, plus his brain couldn't think of any better idea.
"I don't have many options..." He muttered.
With each step he took, he became more nervous. The girls who had been talking to Jake had moved away, looking a little downcast. Heeseung couldn't help but smile a little. He took a deep breath and gathered all the courage he could to continue walking in a straight line without getting in a mess or running away.
"Hi." He said, now aware that this might be his only chance to talk to the hot guide.
When Jake turned and looked at him, his heart skipped a beat. He felt breathless, and he was almost certain he was going to faint. Jake was small, maybe even a little shorter than Jungwon, but it was barely noticeable, he exuded a certain kind of confidence that made him seem much larger than he actually is. His eyes were much darker and deeper up close, and they seemed to glow when he looked at Heeseung. Okay, that last part could just be a figment of his imagination, but he was almost certain it was real.
Now he is strangely aware that he is much closer to Jake than he was ten minutes ago. Before, there had been a dozen or so energetic children, and adults more interested in photographing fish for Instagram, keeping the two at a considerable distance, now it was just them. Face-to-face. There was nowhere to run.
"Can I help you?" he asked with a kind smile
Heeseung blinked twice, it was hard to make his brain work perfectly when that face sculpted by the Greek gods was staring at him, the smile he showed was so radiant and beautiful and that was not helping Heeseung to recover his reasoning. If this stupid idea doesn't work, he will kill Jungwon.
"Ah, m-my friend over there, Jungwon, he wanted me to tell you that he thinks you're really cute." Heeseung spoke with a small smile on his face, he was slightly proud of himself for managing to speak a full sentence without fainting, okay, he sounded like a scared thirteen year old, but a win is a win.
Jake looked at Heeseung, looking a little surprised and disappointed, Heeseung was sure his eyes had lost some of their sparkle. He definitely didn't like that.
"Ah... Okay." Jake commented, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"And I think he's right, you are very handsome."
He had no idea where he got the courage to say that sentence. Was it part of the plan? No, it definitely wasn't part of the plan? What was the plan? A huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. At the same time, he felt lighter, it seemed like his anxiety had only increased. Was it possible to feel so calm and anxious at the same time? He wasn't sure, but if it was possible, that's how his mental state was right now.
Jake's eyes were completely focused on him, Heeseung felt very strange having all that attention on him, he felt torn between running away and never returning to Korea and getting a little closer to the handsome guide.
"Seriously? I was afraid that the look I saw earlier was just a figment of my imagination..." A smile that bordered on adorable and sexy appeared on Jake's lips.
"No it wasn't, I was actually looking at you."
For what felt like the twentieth time that day, Heeseung wished the earth would swallow him whole. Being so close to a cute boy was probably making him lose all control over his body and mouth. Jake, on the other hand, didn't seem to find anything wrong with what he said, his smile only growing wider at the unexpected confession.
"Well then, how long have you been working here, Jake?" Heeseung asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.
"Ah, I'm just an intern. I study marine biology at Yonsei."
Heeseung smiled, not believing what she was hearing.
"I'm going to Yonsei too! I'm studying architecture."
Suddenly his mind was racing, they could hang out, have lunch together, next semester they could ask each other to be roommates, and-
"So that's why we've never met." Jake replied with a chuckle.
Heeseung decided that his laugh was the most adorable thing in the world. He would be content to hear it over and over again for the rest of his life. God, he's a lost cause.
"Hey, why don't you give me your number so we can hang out sometime?" Jake asked him.
"Oh sure, that sounds like a good idea."
Just as they were exchanging numbers, Heeseung realized a small detail; he didn't tell him his name yet.
"I'm Heeseung, Lee Heeseung."
"Well Heeseung, I'm Shim jaeyun but everyone calls me Jake."
"I kind of already knew that..." Heeseung said, pointing vaguely at the badge on Jake's chest.
"I'll text you later then." Jake started with a smile.
"Can't wait."
As he walked back to where Jay and Jungwon were, Heeseung felt like he was floating through the air.
"How was it!?" Jungwon asked extremely curiously
"I got his number." Heeseung replied with a goofy smile on his lips.
"Wow that's my boy!" Jay congratulated him with a huge smile "Now let's get back, I still have a class today."
The three continued walking to the station with Heeseung recounting every detail of their conversation, and being very specific about how Jake's eyes were the most beautiful he had ever seen in his entire life.
While they were waiting for the next train, Heeseung's cell phone rang.
From: Jake; do you want to have coffee with me tomorrow?
From: Jake; I know a great place ;)
From: Heeseung; is it a date?
From: Jake; Yes
From: Jake; It's a date
From: Heeseung; I'll meet you there.
From: Jake; can't wait