Chapter Text
"Do I really have to go?"
"It's my fucking birthday, Matthew. And you're like my best friend in the entire fucking world. Of course you have to go." Taerae rolls his eyes, not turning his full body to face Matthew, who's currently rotting on his bed right now, while he's going through Matthew's mess of a closet to find him decent clothes to wear for a night out, Taerae's birthday party.
Matthew rolls his eyes right back even if he knows Taerae won't see it. It's just how they are.
Do not get him wrong. It's been a rough week at university, especially as seniors who are graduating in a few weeks. It’s a Friday night and Matthew just wants to sleep. It's his best friend's birthday, but it's also his best friend who knows how shitty the past days have been for him, so he knows Taerae understands why he's not as enthusiastic now as he would've been on any other Friday or birthday of his.
But for some reason, Taerae just won't let up.
"Wear these," Taerae drops hangers of clothes onto Matthew's bed. Out of curiosity, he checks the clothes Taerae picked and sighed when he saw them. When he finally gets up from his bed, Taerae does a little dance, showing how happy he is.
"Why are you so adamant on making me go tonight?" Matthew asks, a snicker on his face incoming, but Taerae takes no offense. He goes to the bathroom and dresses himself, nodding in approval of the clothes his friend picked for him.
"I have friends coming whom you haven't met yet," Taerae answers the moment Matthew reenters the room, while he fixes himself up right in front of a mirror.
"That's impossible. You have like five friends," Matthew kids. He sits beside Taerae and opens up his makeup drawer. He wants to at least cover up his darkened undereyes, which were a result of the past week where Matthew was bombarded with deadlines at work, the very reason he doesn't even want to go tonight.
"Fuck off," Taerae tries to push him off his side playfully, "Some of my hometown friends are coming. Try to look pretty."
"If I try any more, I might overshadow you on your own day."
Taerae rolls his eyes for probably the nth time. He puckers up his lips for one last application of his lip balm, and when he sees Matthew doing the same, they make their way out of Matthew's apartment and to the restaurant where Taerae's going to celebrate his birthday.
Once they arrive, Matthew has never felt so thankful for having Taerae as his best friend.
There stood before him is, unarguably, the most beautiful person he has ever laid his eyes on.
Said person is just wearing a white shirt paired with cream colored pants, but his face all the more makes up for it. It’s a bit ambiguous to wear an all white outfit on a night out, but Matthew’s literally just wearing a pair of black pants with a black tee so he really can’t say anything. Still, the beautiful guy looks angelic in white—almost like it’s his personal color, if he believes in that kind of stuff. But Matthew thinks he could show up in a pair of pajamas and he'd still be the most attractive person in the world. That’s sounding a little too much for a person he just met 5 seconds ago, but Matthew’s not exaggerating. At all. Believe him.
Familiar faces awaited them; their friend group consisting of Gunwook, Hao, Ricky, and Yujin, Taerae's boyfriend Jiwoong, and two others Matthew has only seen today, including beautiful guy. Taerae hugs them one by one, apologizing for being late, while Matthew just stands there trying to calm himself down; he almost wants to go back home and change into better clothes. Now, he wonders why Taerae picked these clothes for him. He really thinks he should’ve taken it seriously when Taerae told him to try and look pretty.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” Gunwook whispers to Matthew.
“I thought so too,” Matthew replies, “But I guess the universe has better plans for me.”
Taerae overhears it and turns to them for a second to whisper, “And by universe, you mean me?” Matthew shushes him by subtly raising his middle finger, praying to the heavens that beautiful guy didn’t see. Can’t have him turned off right at the first second.
“These are my friends from Cheonan, Hanbin,” Beautiful guy has a name now, “And Gyuvin.”
As soon as Taerae says that, Gunwook repeatedly nudges Matthew with his elbow, causing Matthew to slightly wince in pain, “Ow.”
“Are you okay?” They all turn their heads toward Hanbin, who seems to have been the only one who heard Matthew. “Oh sorry, I thought—”
Taerae cuts him off and puts an arm around Matthew, “This is my best friend Matthew,” his other arm around Jiwoong, “My boyfriend, Jiwoong. And I’m guessing you guys already got acquainted with each other?” He gestures to the rest of their friend group, and he gets nods in return. Birthday boy sighs in relief when he sees Hao and Ricky high fiving Gyuvin, and Hanbin putting his hand under Yujin’s chin cooing at how cute the youngest is.
They sit at the booth reserved for them and everyone gets absorbed in their own little conversations. Matthew isn’t speaking much, his tiredness long gone now, but his gaze keeps shifting to Hanbin. He observes his features, his black specs that suit him so well, the way his cheeks form whiskers when he smiles, his claps when he’s laughing. Needless to say, Matthew is captivated by him.
When Hanbin finally looks his way, Matthew knows that he knows he’s been staring. But he doesn’t fight it. Hanbin stares right back at him, the corners of his lips curling up into a smile. Matthew wonders if he knows what he’s thinking too.
They snap out of their little staring contest when Gunwook invites the group to play darts at the corner of the restaurant. Everyone stands up to leave their seats for awhile except for Matthew. Matthew pulls out his phone, not really in the mood to play, and a hand touches his shoulder, startling him. Turns out, Hanbin didn’t stand up to play with the others, but to sit beside him. Matthew blushes and keeps his phone back in his pocket.
“Hey,” Hanbin greets as he takes his seat.
“Hey,” Matthew says back, “Sorry for staring, I was just zoning out a little.”
“Oh,” Hanbin’s face falls, “You weren’t staring because you were interested in me?”
Matthew’s eyes widen, “Kidding! Sorry, I’m acting a little weird for someone you just met.”
“No, no, you’re fine! I’m the weird one for staring first,” Matthew counters. But what Hanbin says is definitely not what he expects.
“But I definitely stared back ‘cause I was interested.”
And just to make it clear, “In me?” Hanbin cheekily nods. Matthew doesn’t miss the redness that started appearing on his ears.
When their food began to arrive, they noticed the others were making their way towards their booth, so Hanbin took it at his sign to go back to his seat. But before he does, he asks first, “Would you like to have coffee with me? Later? After we have dinner.”
“Of course,” Matthew nods, not believing his life,“I’ll catch you later.”
Matthew: Taerae-ya, tell me everything I need to know about him
Taerae: Who? Hanbin hyung?
Taerae: What do you need to know about him
Matthew: Enough for a first date
Taerae: ?? WHAT
Dinner flows by fast. Jiwoong surprises Taerae with a cake, and everyone in the restaurant sings a happy birthday for him. They give him gifts, and while everyone’s busy eating, drinking, and laughing, Taerae spares Matthew some time to sneakily text a few necessary details about his hometown friend.
Taerae tells him that he’s a year older than them and that he has the personality of an angel. He and Gyuvin are tied at the hip, but nothing ever romantic. Not that Matthew needed any clarification about what they had, not when he sees the way Gyuvin looks at Gunwook even after only meeting for the first time. He’s a kindergarten teacher, a dancer, a filial son, and he has a sister 4 years younger than him. Matthew excitedly replies that’s the same age gap he has with his older sister, already eager to find similarities between them.
When they bid their goodbyes, the two are left alone, and the other guys finally catch on what’s going on. Gunwook suggestively raises his eyebrows, but Matthew points to Gyuvin’s arm around his shoulder, so he admits defeat and puts a poker face on instead.
Matthew hugs Taerae who tells him, “Text me when you’re home, okay? He’s my friend but you’re my best friend.”
Taerae just holds him tighter when he laughs, “Okay, that's too much. Happy birthday again.”
Taerae lets go and blows him a kiss, responding with a “Love you!” Matthew blows him a kiss right back.
Matthew looks at the time, it’s 9 in the evening. He turns to Hanbin, “I know a café that’s still open, but it’s a few blocks from here. Is that fine?”
“Anywhere’s fine,” Hanbin clings to his arm, “Is this okay? I don’t really want to get lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood.”
Matthew laughs, “You’re being dramatic,” but he smiles when Hanbin’s hold on him tightens. “I’m right here. Can’t let anyone else have you,” He whispers the last part, hoping the other didn’t hear it.
“We look cute like this,” Hanbin says, “Our outfits are matching.”
Matthew glances at their outfits, “We kinda look like yin and yang.”
“We do,” Hanbin blushes, “I like matching stuff.”
“You do?” Matthew takes a mental note of the information he was just given. Hanbin excitedly nods and snuggles closer.
When they reach the cafe, Hanbin offers to order for the both of them, insisting that it’s only right that he treats Matthew because he was the one who invited him. Matthew indulges him, taking a seat at the corner of the cafe. Hanbin joins him shortly.
Matthew takes a sip of his drink before starting the conversation, “So Taerae told me you’re a kindergarten teacher.”
“I am, yeah,” Hanbin nods. “My mom used to be one and I have a sister who’s four years younger, so I’ve always adored kids even when I was one myself. Kids in our family love me too, so I kind of figured out what I wanted to be even before I knew what it meant.”
“You must be really good with kids, then,” Matthew begins imagining Hanbin with kids. It’s a blissful thought. His heart warms. Is it too early to imagine having one with Hanbin? If it is, screw him then.
“And you’re a college senior, right? Just like Taerae.”
“Yeah, we met freshman year, and hit it off since.”
“Your program?”
“Dance. Shifted from bio at the very first semester. Hated all the studying.”
“You dance? Really?” Hanbin’s eyes widen and a grin takes over his face, “I do, too!”
As if not having given that exact information just about an hour ago, “You do?!”
Hanbin enthusiastically replies, “Apart from Taerae’s birthday, I actually went to Seoul to attend a couple of dance classes.”
“What do you usually do?”
“A little bit of everything, actually. But mostly tutting and waacking,” He does a little dance to show Matthew. His lines are beautiful, he’s got great muscle control, and he does it all so effortlessly.
Matthew is enamored. This guy is beautiful, nice, gentle, and is talented, too. Hanbin is just perfect.
“Woah, Hanbin-ssi, you’re really good. I’ve never tried tutting before.” Matthew exclaims, his mouth forming an ‘o’.
“I could teach you sometime, if you want,” Hanbin sheepishly says, “Yes, I’m asking you out on another date.”
Matthew’s jaw would be on the floor, if it could go any lower. Hanbin just laughs despite the blush forming on his entire face.
Just before Matthew gets to answer, a song plays on the cafe’s speakers.
We fly where we want
But don't know where we're going
“I love this song,” Hanbin stands and offers Matthew his hand, “Would you like to dance with me?”
Matthew takes it, “I would love to.”
We still got time to grow
Stay forever young
Hanbin wraps his arms around Matthew’s waist, while Matthew wraps his around Hanbin’s neck, as if it’s instinct.
They sway to the music together and before they know it, their foreheads are touching, and they can feel each other’s breath on their lips. The butterflies on Matthew's stomach are playing with him. It's crazy.
Just before their lips touch, the music stops, and their moment gets interrupted by the barista telling them it's nearing 11 and that they’re closing soon. They fix up themselves and pick up their stuff before living promptly, saving themselves and the barista a little embarrassment.
When they walk around the neighborhood, nearing Matthew’s block, they both know they do not want the night to end. So they walk around a couple more times, around the same block, taking the same route and passing by the same houses again and again, until Hanbin gets the courage to finally hold Matthew's hand.
After walking for probably the tenth time, they finally stop at Matthew’s porch.
Hanbin pulls him close, his arms easily finding Matthew’s waist, “I don’t want this night to end.”
“It doesn’t have to,” Matthew breathes him in, “When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow night.”
Matthew swallows and musters up the courage, “Would you like to spend the rest of your time here with me?” And before Hanbin gets the wrong idea, “Oh, I meant before you go back to Cheonan, of course!”
Hanbin laughs, his eyes disappearing and his whiskers showing. God, Matthew would embarrass himself a thousand times just to make him happy.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” He caresses Matthew’s cheeks as he answers, admiring the moles on his nasolabial fold, “Can I kiss you?”
When Matthew nods, Hanbin dives right in.
Taerae: So how did it go
Matthew: I don’t ever want to go on a first date again. Ever.
Taerae: WHY
Taerae: Was it bad?
Matthew: No
Matthew: He's it for me