Chapter Text
Third-person point of view
It’s been a long while since Hongjoong talked to someone he was really interested in from the get-go.
But he wasn’t certain whether that should be considered something he should be thankful for or curse at.
Because when he arrived at the said location, he found himself yawning multiple times in just a minute.
Fucking dammit.
He shouldn’t have looked at the pictures that Star sent last night.
He shouldn’t have stared at those breathtaking pictures until the screen of his phone seemed to burn with just his gaze alone.
Tracing and studying every color, line, curve, and feature of the other’s appearance that were solidified by those photos.
He really shouldn’t have.
But, fuck.
He did.
And the next thing he knew, it was already three in the fucking morning.
Taking a deep sigh, Hongjoong scratched his nape as he glanced at his wristwatch.
They both agreed to meet at this restaurant at lunch, but he couldn’t really go back to sleep (as if he had any), so he decided to finally get ready and is now almost thirty minutes earlier than the said time.
He’s not exactly someone inexperienced when it comes to dating—he has used dating apps before, but he’s someone who’s extremely picky.
Once he sees even the tiniest detail that irks him, he’d be honest and cut the date short.
He really isn’t someone who goes around wasting his time.
But alas, here he is, outside of a restaurant, at lunchtime, waiting for that beautiful baker he met on a dating app just yesterday, when he knows deep within that he’s already swamped with work.
“Boss, respectfully,” San, his secretary, trailed off. “But what the actual fuck?”
Not even batting an eye at his direction, Hongjoong slipped his watch on his wrist, buckling it close.
“I’ll be quick,” He replied, inserting both of his hands inside his black trousers. “I promise.”
Yet the other groaned, for this occurrence had already happened far too many times than he would like it to be.
“Boss,” San continued to whine, following him as he walked towards the door. “What if you found something that you didn’t like about them?” he asked, trying to persuade the man into thinking this through.
“Just like the others?”
He isn’t entirely wrong.
But he isn’t entirely right, either.
“I have to go there to find out.”
Almost ripping his perfectly styled hair out of his head, his secretary could only let out a few grunts of frustration as he witnessed how his boss stepped outside of his office.
With furrowed eyebrows, Hongjoong looked side to side with hopes of finally spotting someone familiar among the scattered people occupying the streets.
He glanced at his watch once more.
11:45 am.
He knows he shouldn’t rush the one he was meeting, but as his black dress shoes tapped multiple times against the cold ground, it seemed like desperation was oozing out of his system with just how much he yearned to see the baker in the flesh.
Good fucking heavens.
He looks like someone sick in love.
And they haven’t been talking ‘that’ long.
For fuck’s sake, he only met the person yesterday and saw his pictures yesterday as well.
He has been to different countries and seen various people, many of whom are deemed attractive.
“Joongie?”
But there’s just something… he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, with this guy that’s got him all hooked, almost pinned down to the ground.
“Is that you, Joongie?”
Adding to this, it seems like he has a very slim chance of escaping either.
“Hello?”
As the door itself is nonexistent.
“Maybe I’m talking to the wrong guy.” A thick and deep voice entered his senses, gracefully pulling him out of his thoughts.
Hongjoong lifted his head in the direction it came from, and the scenery that unfolded in front of him almost sent him to the edge, holding on for dear life.
There stood a man, a bit taller than him, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, with a black necktie, and a nude-colored jacket. A brown sling bag was wrapped around his body as his dainty fingers held onto the strap, his head turning side to side, as if he was looking for something.
Wait…
That’s him.
That’s him, right?
Oh god, it’s him!
It really is him!
His mind shouted the confirmation he had been craving for, its voice bouncing off the walls inside his head.
Yet as much as he wanted to finally talk to the guy, Hongjoong could not move an inch.
But he wanted to.
He really wanted to.
“Where could Joongie be?” Pursing his lips, Star strided past him, eyes still scouring the place itself to look for him because he’s being such a fucking loser right now, not gathering enough fuel to make himself move.
Dammit, move, you fucker.
“Wait!”
Finally.
We aren’t going to wait for thirty more episodes just for him to talk to the guy of his dreams.
To be fair, he’s also sleep-deprived.
Because of the same guy of his dreams.
But that’s his problem, not ours.
“Huh?” Getting a hold of the other’s wrist, he huffed.
Lips pulled apart, body leaning forward, Hongjoong gulped. “I—uh… h-hi, Star.”
He witnessed how the other’s eyes widened as he turned just a bit to face him, pointing his finger in his direction. “I knew that was you!” He exclaimed enthusiastically.
So enthusiastic that he even wrapped him in a warm embrace.
Woah.
And he said he doesn’t know how to flirt.
But he’s already making his heart skip a beat about a hundred times now since they met.
And that realization, if Hongjoong was being honest, haunted him.
Because if someone like Star could already drive him insane like this without even ‘flirting consciously’…
What more if he flirted with him ‘consciously’?
Will he be able to survive?
Probably not.
“I immediately knew it was you from the get-go!” He chuckled lightly, letting his arms loosen.
Yet the strawberry and vanilla scent that he was continuously emitting stuck to his skin and was engraved deep within his mind.
He smells so damn good.
Okay, calm the fuck down.
An awkward titter escaped from his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck.
And if he could only have one wish, he’d wish for the world to evolve in reverse just so it could go back to that Big Bang revolution thingy, for how embarrassing it must’ve been for him to just stand there, all zoned out because he’s sleep fucking deprived, and made Star second-guess who he is.
Thankfully, Star was too preoccupied with his own thoughts that he eventually forgot all about that embarrassing incident.
“What do you want to order?” Peeking from the menu sprawled out in front of him, Star glanced in his direction.
Since it was lunchtime, the place itself was packed with customers, almost reaching its brim.
Pushing his lips outwards, Hongjoong pondered as he rummaged through the pages.
It became inevitable for him, but it looks like being a CEO of a music agency has already imprinted its mark on every corner of his personality.
He was the one who ordered and mostly took charge of their lunch, oblivious of the fact that maybe he sounded too authoritative in doing so.
And it only dawned on him that he indeed was exuding a bit of a domineering aura in front of the other.
“Wow,” Star breathed, his doll eyes twinkling against the sunlight splashing its white-gold rays upon the streets just outside the restaurant.
“You look and sound like an adult.”
Breaking into light chuckles, Hongjoong’s hand hovered over his mouth. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing,” Star shook his head, the ends of his lips twitching upwards. “You just look really responsible,” He continued, explicitly stating his observations.
“I wish I could look like that as well.”
Star beamed at him, and Hongjoong found himself being entrapped by the other’s features.
His hair was sitting on his forehead, a bit wavy in texture; his doll eyes were what Hongjoong deemed the centerpiece of his whole appearance, as they held emotions that could tug on one’s heartstrings.
His nose was pointed, with the tip going downwards, and he couldn’t even begin with his lips, as they were plump and reddish in color, completing the harmony that every corner of his face emitted.
Would it be insane to state that despite them knowing each other’s existence just yesterday, he has already memorized every part of his face?
A bit?
A lot?
Okay.
The lunch they had was hearty in its entirety. A bit of coziness with a hint of awkwardness emanated from the two, as even though they conversed with each other from time to time, Hongjoong still couldn’t help but indulge in Star’s manners that he found unbelievable to fathom, with just how adorable they were.
In just a short period of time, Hongjoong has concluded some observations he gathered about the other.
One, he seems to really like food. he finds it absolutely endearing how Star, who has Seonghwa as his true name, by the way, stuffs his mouth with so much food until his cheeks are all puffed up.
Alongside this, there’s number two. Whenever he eats, his doe eyes roam around the place while he chews with his mouth closed. And there would be times when his attention would be completely enamored by the food itself.
Three, they only had small talk here and there because Seonghwa looks like he doesn’t entertain lengthy conversations when he’s eating.
Which, in return, he finds absolutely fucking adorable.
And so far, he hasn’t seen a single thing he didn’t like about the other.
“Do you want to taste test the pastries now?” Sitting straight, Seonghwa stared at him with those dangerous doe eyes.
If he were aware of just how much power those orbs hold, would he abuse it?
To be fair, Hongjoong wouldn’t mind if he did.
For he was already certain that he’d willingly surrender every single possession he had that Seonghwa himself wanted him to do.
A bit much (again)?
Well…
“Sure,” He gave him a soft smile, placing both of his elbows on the table.
“Yay!” The baker exclaimed, jumping in his seat for a bit and clapping lightly before reaching underneath the table and placing the brown paper bag on top of it.
Seonghwa stood up and carefully arranged the four plastic containers in front of him, making sure that they all looked presentable.
But he doesn’t really need to do that.
For the one sitting across from him has his gaze locked onto the baker, not the pastries.
“There,” Meeting his eyes once more, a satisfied smile settled upon his plump lips as he sat back down in his seat.
“I bought some brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and a couple of slices of the mini cake I made a few days ago.”
Seonghwa pointed at the containers one by one before putting his hands underneath the table.
“You may taste test them now,” He was still smiling, but Hongjoong could sense a bit of determination and nervousness across the other’s features.
Fucking hell.
Everything he does is just—so cute.
Hongjoong nodded before reaching out to the first container. Keeping his gaze on the baker, he took a bite of the squared pastry.
Anticipation oozed out of the other as Hongjoong chewed on it. Licking his lips for the crumbs, he placed it back on the container.
God… fucking dammit.
The brownie itself tasted good, but what sold him the most was how irresistibly cute the baker stared at him.
His doe eyes were almost laser-focused as his hands held onto the edge of the table.
“It tastes good,” He stated, nodding all the while, wiping the excess off his fingertips.
Seonghwa’s shoulders, which were once tensed, instantly dropped low, almost reaching the ground.
His lips began to push outwards, forming into a pout.
Holy shit.
Is he doing this on purpose?
“That’s it?” He complained. Yet not an ounce of annoyance trickled through the CEO's mind.
“I need more comprehensive feedback,” Seonghwa almost pleaded. And Hongjoong swears, if he asked for a comprehensive feedback one more time, using those doe eyes of his, the CEO was more than ready to submit a fifty-page, back-to-back feedback that he was asking for.
No signs of irritation.
No eye-rolling.
No complaints from him.
Just pure joy.
Stifling a smile, Hongjoong nodded pliantly. “Alright,” He trailed off, drawing his long sleeves back. He tried his very best to rummage his mind for coherent sentences he could come up with and sew together to form the comprehensive feedback Seonghwa has been asking for from him.
For the four pastries that Seonghwa had baked the night before, Hongjoong provided almost a ten-minute-worthy explanation for his feedback, to which Seonghwa willingly listened and acknowledged gleefully.
“I knew I was right when I asked you to taste test my pastries,” He said while writing in his notebook.
Scoffing endearingly, Hongjoong intertwined his fingers. “Why? Did you have doubts whether I could do it or not?”
Looking at him momentarily, Seonghwa shook his head. “Nope, I always knew you could do it.” Closing the notebook, he slid it to the side.
“But my best friend told me you couldn’t.”
Eh?
Best friend?
Did he say his best friend did not believe him?
Well, if only they could see him now.
Chuckling, Hongjoong replied. “If only they knew how well I did with the taste test.” Mirroring his smile, Seonghwa stared right at him.
“They already did.”
Huh?
What does he mean by that?
“My best friend, Wooyoung, is right at the table behind us.” Still smiling, Seonghwa pointed at his back. “And my other friend, Yunho, tagged along.” Tilting his head to the side, Hongjoong glanced at the table Seonghwa was pointing at.
When he did, two men sitting across from each other looked back at him.
They… T-They were there the whole damn time?!
One of them was almost throwing daggers at him with his sharp gaze; meanwhile, the other smiled at him and waved.
He’s guessing that the guy named Wooyoung is the one wanting to kill him right now.
And Yunho was the one who… “happily” tagged along, as Seonghwa has said.
Instantly feeling the air getting warm, Hongjoong tried to fan himself with the jacket he was wearing by flailing its upper part.
He shifted in his seat, clearing his throat.
Fucking hell.
“I hope you don’t mind.”
Well, no shit.
He only knew about them just now.
And as if knowing that information at this point could implement some changes, he bit his bottom lip hard.
Because he knows that’s nearly impossible.
However, having a glimpse of the other’s doe eyes, he could immediately feel himself melting like an ice cream under the blazing heat.
Those eyes are indeed dangerous.
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”
See?
Dangerous.
“You know what?” Seonghwa leaned towards him, not breaking eye contact.
“I like you so much, Joongie.”
Well, fuck.