Work Text:
“Jungwoo, I’m not going to another blind date!” Doyoung yelled.
He just got home from work, contemplating whether he wanted to cook for himself or just order something, then headed straight to the shower when he received a text from an unknown number.
Unknown Number:
Hello Doyoung! Jungwoo gave me your number, is that okay?
And he had yet to reply because this happened seven times this month. Jungwoo had been giving his number to his “potential dating prospects”. Doyoung couldn’t even understand where the fuck Jungwoo had been meeting all these people.
“Hyung, I promise this one’s okay!” Jungwoo said over the phone. “This one’s different!”
“You said that last time!” Doyoung said. He put the phone on loudspeaker mode and threw it on the couch. The phone tumbled and Doyoung pretended it was Jungwoo.
“He’s not like other men,” Jungwoo insisted.
“You said that about the guy you made me date last week and he’s really not like other men, because he’s so damn worse!”
It was true, the last guy he went out with gave him so much secondhand embarrassment he thought that he was babysitting a child. He carried the fuck out of that date. From ordering food to paying, he even taught the guy to eat noodles properly.
“Fine, maybe I lied last time.” Jungwoo had the audacity to giggle, “but today I’m being truthful!”
“Stop yelling at the phone!” Doyoung pointed a finger at the phone like Jungwoo could see him.
“You started it!”
“You were placed on this earth to annoy the fuck out of me.”
“ Maybe I am, but Hyung, it’s been a while since you last dated.”
“The other day hasn’t been a good while, Jungwoo.”
“ I mean that ever since you broke up with your ex, you haven’t been treating people seriously.”
Doyoung scoffed. In fact, he treated people too seriously that they couldn't even keep up with his pace. They either call him controlling or independent.
So what if he was controlling? If you watched a guy humiliate himself in a movie theater, wouldn’t you pull him out of it? Wouldn't you scold him for being an inconvenience to the other people watching the movie? Doyoung would because he was raised practicing manners.
It used to be a pleasure to be called independent, he worked himself up the corporate ladder. Not until everyone thought it was okay to fully depend on him just because he was oh so capable. Doyoung didn’t have the energy to raise cubs. He was looking for a partner, not a pet. If he wanted a pet he could steal fish from Taeyong’s tank.
“Like you were any serious?” Doyoung retorted. “Jungwoo, I swear the next time you give some guy my phone number again, I will run you over with my car until you turn into mush then use that mush to fertilize my plants.”
“I don’t think that’s good for plants,” Jungwoo was unaffected by his threat. “Besides, this is not just ‘some guy’.”
“I bet he stinks and eats like a toddler.”
“He should know how to eat properly, he owns restaurants.”
Owns a restaurant? Doyoung’s brow raised. Wait, restaurants? As in multiple? Plural? His interest was piqued.
Well, that was understandable because the last guy he met played piano in a band. (The date was terrible because the guy was all about bragging about his band, his music, and his skills. The guy was decent at most on the piano, but his music mansplaining offended Doyoung, someone who was trained to play the piano since he was five. Doyoung ought to be his piano teacher.) But this one? He couldn’t even imagine where Jungwoo met this one.
“Give me his name.”
“Curious?”
“This is the last time I’ll trust you,” Doyoung said with a sigh. “The last date, Jungwoo. I swear I’ll change my number and block you if–”
Jungwoo interrupted him. “Yes, yes, I know. Stop talking, don’t worry, and relax. His name is Matsushima Shohei and I met him at the convention I attended the other day. Do you remember?”
So he’s Japanese and owns restaurants. Interesting. “Of course, I remember, I picked you up.”
“He must have seen you then, today we met again and he asked me if you were my boyfriend. I said no and said I was single. I thought he was interested in me but then he asked about you.” Doyoung cackled at that. “So I told him you’re single too and he said that you were too pretty to be single. You know how it went afterward.”
Yeah, Jungwoo probably got too excited and offered Doyoung to him.
“Did my beauty bruise your ego?”
“A little.”
“Deserve.”
“But Hyung, I swear you need to go for him!”
“It’s just a date, Jungwoo.” Doyoung reached for his phone on the couch.
“Even so!”
“I’m hanging up.” Doyoung counted to three before dropping the call.
Kim Doyoung:
Is this Matsushima Shohei?
Unknown Number:
Yes
Kim Doyoung:
Sorry for the late reply! I asked Jungwoo about it first .
Matsushima Shohei:
It’s all good
It’s better to ask before replying
Kim Doyoung:
So what did he tell you?
Matsushima Shohei
That you’re single
And that you’re in dire need of a partner
Kim Doyoung:
I’m not desperate for one I swear.
Matsushima Shohei:
I thought so
I may have known Jungwoo for a couple of days but I know that he tends to exaggerate things
Kim Doyoung:
I have known him forever. Please, if he ever did something to offend you I apologize on his behalf.
Matsushima Shohei:
Don’t worry he's his own person
Also don’t be too formal with me
Kim Doyoung:
But what if you’re older than me?
Matsushima Shohei:
When were you born?
Kim Doyoung:
February 1, 1996
Matsushima Shohei:
Oh
Kim Doyoung:
Why?
Matsushima Shohei:
Hyung~
Doyoung squinted at the screen. Okay, the swung dash was terribly cute.
Kim Doyoung:
No way, when’s your birthday?
Matsushima Shohei:
HAHAHAHAHA
December 16, 1996
We’re both 26 so let’s drop the formalities now
Kim Doyoung:
Okay
Then it’s time for questions. Doyoung cracked his neck.
Kim Doyoung:
You’re Japanese, why are you in Korea?
Matsushima Shohei:
Been here for a while
I studied here and never left
Where do you work?
Kim Doyoung:
I work for NCT as a department head.
Matsushima Shohei:
Oh that’s cool
Do you get discounts on laptops?
Kim Doyoung:
I get free laptops.
That was exaggerated, but it was something Doyoung used to test people.
Matsushima Shohei:
HAHAHAHAH
Doyoung frowned at the screen.
Kim Doyoung:
Why are you laughing hahaha
Matsushima Shohei:
Don’t mind me but I just imagined you using all your limbs to attend to multiple laptops
Okay, that’s a new response. He usually got ‘Then you should hook me up with a new laptop’ or ‘what do you do with your outdated ones? Can I have them?’
Kim Doyoung:
Sorry to burst your bubble but I only have two laptops.
So what do you do?
Matsushima Shohei:
I manage restaurants
Shohei said manage instead of own. Doyoung went on Instagram and searched for his name. He tapped on the first result and saw a mutual.
@sugaringcandy
Okay, this one must be him. And fuck, he’s him? Woah.
Doyoung scrolled through pictures of Shohei in art galleries and food. He scrolled so far down that he even saw his gym pictures. That was when Doyoung decided to reply.
Kim Doyoung:
Then when we go out for dinner you won’t have any trouble.
That’s right. He used ‘when’ instead of ‘if’. He may have decided to trust Jungwoo this time.
Matsushima Shohei:
Let’s go elsewhere
I’m sick of the food here
And that was how Shohei secured a date with Doyoung
—
Doyoung and Shohei got along well. Shohei was easy to talk to. The flow of their messages was smooth. They discovered that they had a lot in common, even their MBTI. Jungwoo never heard back from Doyoung about it. He never wanted to give Jungwoo the satisfaction of pushing Doyoung to a guy that completely matches his type.
But that was just the initial impression because if Shohei was a darling online, what about in real life?
Doyoung was panicking in his car, looking at his reflection in his rearview mirror. They decided to meet on a Friday and Doyoung went to the restaurant that Shohei chose straight from work. He hoped that Shohei would forgive him for not bothering to change out of his work clothes.
But that’s the thing, Shohei’s last message was sent on three this afternoon. They were meeting at 7:30 pm and it was currently 6:54 pm. Will he get stood up? There’s a 35% chance he would. Well, that’s just based on statistics. The statistics from the many blind dates he had been through.
Doyoung sighed, he was early. He leaned back on the car seat. There were a couple of word games on his phone so with those, twenty five minutes passed by quickly. He got out of the car and went straight to the restaurant’s entrance. The security guard greeted him and he greeted back.
And there on a table at the leftmost side of the restaurant was Matsushima Shohei.
What ran through Doyoung’s mind was, fuck he’s tall , then he looked impossibly better in real life , and finally thank god he wasn’t stood up.
He walked to the table and Shohei was standing up. Doyoung bowed in greeting and Shohei did too.
Shohei was wearing a white dress shirt and slacks, hiding his delicious arms but the first two buttons were undone and Doyoung could peek at his chest. His hair was light brown and it suited him well.
“Nice to finally meet you, Doyoung-ssi.” Shohei was grinning. They sat down.
“You were the one who told me to drop the formalities, and here you are.”
“I’m sorry,” Shohei let out a laugh. “You’re early.”
“Not really, I’m still in work clothes.” Doyoung pointed at himself, “Do you mind?”
“I am too,” Shohei pointed at the coat neatly folded beside him. “Don’t worry.”
“What time did you arrive?” He asked, he was so used to this that he could write a guide on questions to ask your date.
“Not earlier than you.”
Doyoung coughed, “Excuse me?”
“I recognized your car from when you picked up Jungwoo.”
Fuck, he dug a pit from himself. He never expected Shohei to be that attentive. He smiled nervously and said, “I thought I was too early, so I waited in the car.”
“What did you do while waiting?” Shohei said as he signaled for a waiter.
“Word puzzles.”
“Which one?”
He didn’t know why that mattered but he still replied, “Twordy.”
“What level?”
Doyoung looked at his phone before replying “378.”
“Oh, I’m at 336.”
Doyoung laughed. “You’re so cool. ”
“How so?” Shohei asked, but before Doyoung could answer the waiter came and asked for their order.
“I’ll order pasta,” Doyoung said after going through the menu.
“Don’t you want to order anything else? The seafood here is great.” Shohei pointed at the picture of a shrimp dish on the menu.
“I don’t know, are they deshelled?”
“No,” the waiter answered.
“Don’t worry about it,” Shohei assured him and then turned to the waiter, saying “We’ll add this.”
The waiter saluted them and went on his way.
“Why did you choose this restaurant?” asked Doyoung.
“I just figured you’ll like it also I went through your Instagram highlights, is that fine? If you feel creeped out just tell me.”
“It’s fine don’t worry, because I scrolled to 2016 and saw your gym pics.”
Shohei hid his face behind his hands. “I forgot to delete those.”
“They’re good.”
“I’m not as skinny as I used to be.”
“I can see that.”
“You must be a pro at dating,” Shohei laughed then added, “you’re my sunbae at dating.”
“Not really,” Doyoung shook his head, “you must be.”
“This is my first date this year.”
“It’s December,” Doyoung stated.
“Exactly.”
“Hopefully, this won’t be your last this year then.”
“I hope so too.”
The two smiled at each other.
The waiter returned and served their food. The plate of pasta was placed in front of Doyoung and his habits took over and served Shohei a portion before getting his.
“Excuse me,” Shohei said before leaving.
What? Where was he going? Was he leaving by sneaking out the comfort room window? (That happened to Doyoung once. His date snuck out only to be discovered by another customer because the guy got his ass stuck through the window. But in terms of getting ditched in the middle of the date, it already happened five times.)
Then Doyoung watched Shohei emerge from the comfort room after forty seconds with wet hands. Shohei sat back down and wiped his hands with a napkin. He scooped seafood into a bowl and rolled up his sleeves.
“What are you–”
Shohei took a piece of shrimp with his bare hands and then started peeling it. Every peeled shrimp went to Doyoung’s plate.
“Shohei,” Doyoung called.
“Didn’t I tell you not to worry? Let me do this for you.”
Doyoung was about to cry. Even his brother never peeled shrimp for him.
Shohei must have noticed his silence. He asked, “You haven’t touched your food. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, is your love language acts of service?”
“It's actually physical touch,” Shohei said.
“Oh.” What would it be like to have those arms wrapped around you?
“Eat up, Doyoung.”
"What about you?"
Shohei put a peeled shrimp in his mouth. "What about me? I'm eating."
"Okay, okay, you win." Doyoung conceded and ate his food.
"It's not a competition." Shohei laughed.
After peeling and deshelling all the seafood on the table, Shohei went to the comfort room to wash his hands. When he returned, the two continued eating in peace.
The date was going so well, Doyoung was suspicious. When were Jungwoo and the camera crew coming out?
Since he entered the restaurant, not once did he hear a jab at his personality or how he was too high and mighty. Instead, he was listening to Shohei talk about how knowing how to run a restaurant was different from being a good cook.
"I'm decent at best, you can probably cook better than me."
"Then why enter this field?" Doyoung was curious.
"Ratatouille."
"Are you serious?"
"No." Shohei giggled. "I used to part-time in restaurants as a waiter back in high school and it kind of stuck to me."
"Can you balance multiple plates on your arms?"
He needed to stop noticing Shohei's arms.
"Yes, but only for a few seconds."
That's so cool, Doyoung would bet that he could carry him in his arms.
With that Doyoung stuffed himself with more food.
—
Matsushima Shohei was not like other men.
Doyoung hated to admit that Jungwoo was right. Okay, okay, it was the best date he ever had.
And for the first time, Doyoung felt steady. With Shohei, he didn't have to bring himself down to the level of others. Shohei knew what to do and say.
"I'll walk you to your car," Shohei said.
"It's not that far."
"Too bad."
Doyoung laughed at that.
"Hey, Shohei," Doyoung began his concluding speech for the night.
Shohei turned to face him and hummed in reply.
"I really enjoyed tonight."
Shohei smiled widely at that. "I did too."
"Then," Doyoung reached out for Shohei's hand.
However, Shohei flinched away.
"Sorry, it's just– My hands smell like shrimp right now. The hand soap in the comfort room wasn't strong enough. I–"
Doyoung cackled, so loud that people across the street stopped to look at them.
"It's okay."
"I promise to hold your hand next time." Shohei was determined.
"Next week then?" Doyoung offered.
"I'll buy hand cream tomorrow."
"You're so cute."
"Thank you," Shohei said. "We're here."
Doyoung found himself in front of his car so fast. He reluctantly unlocked his car and Shohei opened the door for him.
"Text me when you get home."
"Of course," Doyoung said as he settled in. "You know, I'd try to kiss your cheek but my breath smells like shrimp."
Shohei avoided his eyes, ears turning red. "Drive carefully."
"You too, I'll get going now." Doyoung waved.
"Bye!"
Doyoung rolled up his window, drove carefully, and arrived home with sixteen texts from Jungwoo and one from Shohei.