[20:22]

"Baby! Congratulations!" you exclaim and engulf Taehyung, your boyfriend, in a big hug and give him a small congratulatory kiss beneath his ear. You can feel his grin when you press your cheek to his. "You finally got a role in the drama!"

"it was all because of you, I don't know how I would have done this without you," He says. He lifts you slightly and sways your body a little, making you giggle. He puts you down when you hit his shoulder. You tip toe slightly to pat his head,"You did great,"

Taehyung closes his eyes and smiles. You intertwine your fingers with his, and whisper a let's go. "Are we going for a congratulatory dinner?" he asks and you nod.

You and Taehyung have started dating just a week before. You were a part of the photography team at his company and he just happened to be the most beautiful model you ever captured in your camera. So, you couldn't help but initiate a conversation and he showed an equal interest in keeping it up.

Even after six months of knowing each other and feeling the tension in the air whenever you came close to him, Taehyung hesitated to make your friendship into something more, because he was still struggling to establish his career as an actor.

You appreciated his ambition but grew impatient and found yourself unable to hold back anymore. Finally you confessed last week, and Taehyung had literally fallen on his knees, with tears in his eyes since he could not believe at all.

"Hot-pot?" you ask. "Hot-pot," he confirms. You both walk hand in hand to the nearest hot-pot place you knew.

When you spot a couple, laughing and randomly kissing each other, sitting on a bench outside the restaurant, you realise that you and Taehyung have never been on a date.

Not even out together for that matter.

So logically, this outing should be your first ever. You secretly wish that he had asked you to one today but you don't mind thinking that this is your first date with him. The thought made you excited and you mentally took a note to make it memorable.

When you both seat yourself in a cozy corner at the restaurant, you ask, "What role did you get by the way?"

Taehyung slightly blinks, looks away for a few seconds and you can see his ears grow red.

He mumbles something which you I couldn't hear and you tilt your head to bring your face in his line of vision, "What is it?" you ask,"Oh come on, I won't laugh if they asked you to be the bear at the zoo," you press your lips to stifle a laugh and he sighs.

"It is not funny," he pouts "I am a Prince!"

You chuckle, "Then why are you acting as if they casted you as the frog prince or something?"

You meant it as a joke but when you see him blinking with his eyes wide and mouth agape, you scoff, "Don't tell me, really?" you lean forward, "They really casted you as the frog prince?"

He shuts his mouth and looks away. You could not help but burst into laughter because of how cute he looked at the moment. "You said you won't laugh," he mumbles, "This is why I didn't wanna tell you,"

You wipe a tear from the corner of your eye and try to calm yourself, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just can't believe, they really made you-" you burst into laughter again.

"Babe!" he whines and you put a hand on your mouth to indicate that you will stop.

The food arrives the next moment and you start stirring it while adding a few toppings. "The mushrooms too," he sternly says and it has you laughing again.

"As you wish Prince," you stick out your tongue and he rolls his eyes. He is so happy to see you laughing and the fact that he is the reason behind it, has his heart swelling. But he won't show it, because he is....

"My prince," you call him again.

Absolutely, wholeheartedly in love with you.

"H're's thy hot-pot, My prince," you push the dish slightly, "Congratulations on thy role and i give you luck f'r the future,"

He scoffs and dips his chopsticks in the dish. He is pretty sure the frog prince never speaks in Shakespearean English.

You laugh again at his reaction. The dinner goes by pleasantly, with you and your occasional teasing which has Taehyung almost losing his eyes because of excessive eye-rolling.

The bill arrives in no time after you both were done filling your stomachs full and you take out your wallet. "I will pay," you say, sliding your debit card across the table as Taehyung is handed the bill.

The waiter stands patiently, giving you and your boyfriend polite smiles as he holds out the payment terminal in front of you, and you can't help but roll your eyes at the way Taehyung has taken out his own card too.

You tell him with a stern tone, "Let me pay please,"

And he ignores you.

He gives the waiter a polite smile, fiddling with his card in his fingers, making small talk as he asks about how many people came in the restaurant today, and you know, as well as you know Taehyung, that he was purposely doing this to tease you.

"Taehyung, take my card," you tell him again, snapping back his and the waiter's attention to you.

He knows you're serious - for you never use his full name - it's always been taetae or some other sweet pet name you used to call out to him, but you never ever used his actual name, not even before you both started dating, so he knows better now than to push you further.

"Fine," he tells you, his features softening, and he finally takes your card in his hand seriously, his smile as sweet as ever, "But only for today,"

"No, for every date," your eyebrows furrow, smiling weakly as you tell him.

He fakes a frown, "A date? Was this a date?"

You give the waiter an apologetic look, you can tell he's been standing over your table for longer than wanted, but Taehyung still had your (and his) card in his hand, too immersed in a conversation with you to actually swipe it in the transaction machine and now you have slipped out something you shouldn't have.

You cross your arms, "You don't like saving money?" and Taehyung grins, "That is not the point here," he tilts his head towards you, "Is this a date?"

You look away. "If this was a date, you should have told me, I would have brought a gift to give you, I like spoiling you, you know?" He says.

Taehyung feels jittery at the fact that you considered this a date, and now that he knows this, he won't allow you to pay. He wants to show you that he is a gentleman- that he can take care of you.

You scrunch your nose,"Don't be gross," your lips turn up slightly, "Moreover," you lean forward mimicking his pose, "You are a prince, you are not supposed to give anything but orders,"

"Then I order you to go on a date with me,"

For the first time in the evening, Taehyung responds to your teasing instead of a roll of his eyes and that too, in a way that made your heart skip a beat. "A real one," he tilts his head, "Where I pay,"

"Taetae," you whisper.

You are a bit embarrassed that the waiter has to hear all this, so you avert your eyes and nudge your boyfriend's attention back to him, and his eyes widen a bit, confused as if he's only now realizing that he's kept the poor man waiting.

Your shoulders rise as you smile, barely paying attention as Taehyung slides the card over the machine, and before you could thank your poor waiter, he'd already excused himself.

You give your attention back to Taehyung sitting in front of you, giving him a playful glare as his expression remains amused, and you roll your eyes, letting his grin only widen when he hands you back your card.

His own card (yours is blue, his is green) is tucked into his own palm, something you don't even realize he still had in his grasp until the waiter had left your table.

"You used your card, didn't you?" you ask, sighing, putting your own debit card back into your wallet, and you let your shoulders fall, caving as your smile breaks through your face.

Taehyung, as charming as ever, leans over the table, and he pulls on your head, careful not to hurt you, and he kisses your temple a peace offering, an apology.

"Love you," he tells you, and he tells you after all this time, and he feels like he won't ever stop telling. You flutter your eyelashes close to memorise the way it sounds.

"I'll let you pay for gas later," he offers, his tone dripping in trimmed laughter as he teases.

You give him a scoff with a smile - his favourite one knowing fully well that the two of you didn't take the car today. You click your tongue, "We walked here,"

You said it was a date, so he made sure to make it one.