"Are you a stalker?" Jinyoung asks, taking a step backwards and eying the young man, Im Jaebeom, with suspicion. Why and how can he know him?

"What?" Jaebeom stutters, confused and blinking quickly. Jinyoung tries to step away and break the contact, but the other man doesn't let go, instead he holds him a bit tighter. "No! Of course no I just... I mean...I know because I'm..."

"A stalker," Jinyoung repeats, this time a statement, nodding and accepting.

His tone confuses Jaebeom, clearly, because he just holds on to those words without thinking and says, "Yes, that."

Jinyoung snorts a bit, trying to hold his laughter as he sees how Jaebeom realizes what he said, shutting his eyes tight and looking like he wanted to slap himself.

"I mean no! Not that." Jinyoung has to press his lips together not to laugh at how worked up Jaebeom looks. It's endearing and he doesn't even know he he's teasing him instead or stepping away when there's a guy who doesn't want to let go of his hand. "I mean you look like a Park Jinyoung."

"That's a very lame excuse, you know that, Mr. Stalker?" Jinyoung smirks, watching how Jaebeom turns bright red.

"I'm not a stalker!" Jinyoung can't help his chuckle this time, but he doesn't want to stop teasing the man in front of him.

"It's okay, acceptance is hard but it's the first step," he adds, patting the hand of the man with his left, trying to be comforting.

Jaebeom cannot come up with a reply, just gaping at him with his cheeks red as Jinyoung continues smirking.

"Stalker or not, you should let go of my hand. I did say I wasn't jumping," Jinyoung adds and just then Jaebeom realizes he hasn't let go. With now even his ears turning red, Jaebeom releases Jinyoung and steps back, looking down and mumbling to himself something Jinyoung can't quite grasp.

"I'm sorry, I came out weird," Jaebeom mutters, still embarrassed and hiding a bit inside his black hoodie. Jinyoung feels this weird urge to wrap his scarf around the young man to help him hide his embarrassment.

"It's okay, weird is fun. Unless it's creepy weird," Jinyoung reassures with a tiny smile, but this gesture flatters when Jaebeom looks up, still a bit hidden inside his hoodie, just his narrow eyes focused on Jinyoung. His stare is intense, as if the other man was trying to memorize him, and it makes Jinyoung feel hot, like he's suffocating as his heart starts beating way too fast for someone who isn't even walking.

"Am I creepy weird?" Jaebeom asks and Jinyoung can see a bit of vulnerability in those piercing eyes, some fear of what Jinyoung might answer.

Yes, he should answer. The man in front of him is somewhat creepy in the way he looks at Jinyoung as if he already knew him. Instead, he answers, "No. Just weird."

"Then would it be creepy if I ask you to grab coffee with me?"

It's Jinyoung now who feels his cheeks warming up so he looks away, willing his heart to calm down, not knowing why he feels so excited for some simple invitation.

"Are you asking me out, Im Jaebeom-ssi?" Jinyoung asks, staring at the horizon. The sun long gone, the night sky an endless blackness with only a crescent moon shining. The lights from the other bridges are a rainbow being reflected in the dark waters underneath.

"Would it be creepy if I do?" Jaebeom asks, his voice lower and it makes Jinyoung take his eyes off of the scenery to be trapped in the other man's stare, making him catch breath.

"N-no," he stutters, trying to sound calm but his voice is a bit higher. "But why?" he asks, trying to take some control of the situation by asking the questions instead. "Did you fall for me?" He laughs, trying to tease the young man.

Jinyoung chokes when Jaebeom answers: "What if I did?"

His eyes widen as he stares at Jaebeom, although he's blushing and blinking quickly, he is serious, watching Jinyoung intently.

"Then..." Jinyoung gulps. "Then you should pay for the coffee."

Jaebeom smiles, wide and so cutely, his eyes almost disappearing and his white teeth showing, a straight line that make them look a bit too prominent, a bit too big. But Jaebeom looks so incredibly adorable, blindingly happy and Jinyoung feels all the knots and butterflies in his stomach at the sight, dumbfounding him with the intensity of his own reaction.

"I was planning to," Jaebeom comments, stepping closer and making Jinyoung's skin buzz at the proximity. "Shall we go? It's getting cold and as good as you look in that scarf, I don't think it'll be enough."

Jinyoung wants to squeal at the same time he wants to scold himself for feeling all these things, for reacting so strongly to a stranger. Sure, a super handsome and clumsily devastating stranger, but one nonetheless. This is not like Jinyoung, he doesn't get flustered so easily, he's always mocking and detached, coming off as arrogant sometimes. He feels oddly exposed and vulnerable, and that's so unsettling.

"O-okay," Jinyoung answers, hating a bit the dashing smile from the other man.

Yet he still follows Jaebeom as he leads the way, in complete silence. He doesn't know what to say to break the ice and he still feels nervous. Jinyoung doesn't miss the occasional side glances Jaebeom takes of him, as if he needed to make sure Jinyoung is still by his side.

They finish crossing the bridge and go down to the parks by the riverside. They continue walking, Jinyoung just following Jaebeom blindly. Instead of feeling nervous of scared that the other man could be a serial killer, Jinyoung only feels nervous, excited.

There's an Angel's Café near the parking lot and Jaebeom leads him upstairs, inside the café. They walk to the register and Jaebeom faces the cashier.

"A hot chocolate for me, and what do you want?" Jaebeom asks, turning to fix his eyes on Jinyoung again. He tells himself he doesn't feel his skin getting hotter under his scrutiny.

"Just an Americano for me," Jinyoung replies.

"You don't want to sleep tonight?" Jaebeom asks and Jinyoung shakes his head.

"I've slept enough, I don't like sleeping now," Jinyoung answers, looking away not wanting to explain about being in a coma for so long.

"Ah, true," Jaebeom mumbles, as if he understood. Jinyoung squints, watching Jaebeom more closely as he turns to finish the order and add some cake to share. He doesn't know exactly what to think of the man next to him.

Jaebeom pays as he promised and receives the number the cashier gives him. Then he leads the way to one of the tables near the window, with a view to the river. The number sits on the table between them and Jinyoung keeps his eyes fixed on it, just waiting for it to buzz.

"So..." Jaebeom starts, asking Jinyoung to look up and meet his eyes. "Tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?" Jinyoung asks, meeting Jaebeom's eyes.

"I don't know, anything? Everything?" Jaebeom shrugs. "What do you do? What things you hate? What's your favourite ice cream flavour? Cat or dog person?"

"I don't do anything, you can say I'm a bum leeching off his parents," Jinyoung replies coldly, knowing that speaking about himself will push the other man away. "I hate... many things. People, life, traffic jam, cold coffee, when the skin of a fruit you're peeling breaks," he lists, watching the way Jaebeom's lips curl in a small smile, amused. "And I don't know, I'm not that into animals, I guess."

"I think you'd look adorable playing with kittens," Jaebeom comments. "Maybe I should take you to a cat café next."

Jinyoung blinks, surprised Jaebeom doesn't look slightly appalled by his answers and that he's talking about future outings. Future dates.

Jinyoung tells himself he doesn't feel butterflies.

"Do you want to find something to do or do you feel you're not prepared yet?" he questions next, not giving Jinyoung much time to feel surprised.

"I.. don't feel ready or motivated," he answers. He's never seen a reason why to try doing anything, not feeling passion or interest for anything. But he doesn't want to explain this and show how messed up he is.

"I see, I'm sure it's hard to find what you want to do in life, and rushing it can only lead to a mistake." Jinyoung isn't used to people being understanding of his depressive view of life. His parents always tried to force him into doing something, anything because you can't just do nothing in life. "I'm sure you'll find something you'd like to explore eventually."

"What do you do?" Jinyoung asks, wanting to deviate the attention from him.

Jaebeom is about to answer when the number buzzes, so he excuses himself and goes for their order. Jinyoung watches him walk, not missing how other people in the café look at the handsome man, talking in whispers. Girls even giggling and blushing.

Jaebeom comes back, putting the red velvet cake between them, the mug with black Americano in front of Jinyoung and the cup with hot chocolate with whipped cream in front of him.

"You have a sweet tooth," Jinyoung points out, watching Jaebeom take a small bite at the whipped cream. He looks up, licking his lips and smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah, I do," he smiles. "And to answer your previous question, I just graduated from photography. I don't have a job yet though."

"How old are you?" he asks, knowing Jaebeom cannot be much older than him if he just finished university.

"I turned twenty-five recently," Jaebeom answers. Jinyoung makes the math in his head and he realizes Jaebeom is an early ninety-four liner, older than him but for a few months.

"Then I guess I can call you hyung," Jinyoung comments, not even knowing why he'd want to sound more familiar.

"Please do," Jaebeom smiles warmly, as if that was what he wanted the most.

That smile makes Jinyoung slightly uncomfortable, so he looks away, taking the mug in his hands to take a sip at his black coffee, bitter as he likes it.

Jaebeom doesn't say anything else, but Jinyoung feels the other man's eyes on him, making him feel so nervous.

"It's good seeing you drink something," Jaebeom comments, confusing Jinyoung who turns to watch the other man with a furrowed brow.

"What do you mean?" Jinyoung demands.

Jaebeom blushes again, blinking and breaking eye contact. Jinyoung doesn't bulge; he just waits for an explanation that makes sense.

"I mean... you look good, like in a commercial," Jaebeom answers, smiling shyly. "Maybe you should be an actor, you sure are handsome and I'd buy whatever you sell."

Whatever suspicion he felt seconds ago is gone and now Jinyoung is blushing again, completely flustered and flattered, and the fact Jaebeom is smiling so charmingly doesn't help at all. He looks away again, trying to hide behind the cup and trying not to feel so self-conscious as Jaebeom watches him drink.

"Stop staring at me," Jinyoung mutters, not liking feeling so hot.

"When you stop looking so good," Jaebeom answers cheekily and Jinyoung feels so stupid for being flustered and excited with such cheesy remarks.

"You're horrible," Jinyoung accuses, but Jaebeom doesn't look offended, he only shrugs.

"You like it," he dares to reply and Jinyoung can't look at him, he can't accept that's true, he likes it.

---

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry for the wait but all your comments asking me to write did help to push myself. Thanks.

Bel, xx