When Changmin wakes up the next day he’s got a ridiculous smile on his face and an alarmingly giddy feeling in his stomach. He thinks to himself, this must be how it feels to find love, to realize that it is worth it, really- to suddenly believe in fate (this was meant to be). He can’t bring himself to get out of bed just yet; instead, he lets his mind wander. He remembers how, when Jaejoong dropped him off at his apartment, he had paused, leaning out his window.

 

“I had fun,” he says softly, so calm while Changmin feels like he’s on fire, all nerves and blood coursing through his veins. He bends over for a second, writing, and then beckons Changmin closer. “Call me,” he smiles, embarrassed, and presses the slip of paper in his hand. For a second there’s a soft press against his lips, gone before he can even register it.

 

For a long while after Changmin stands there, and listens to his heart beating.

 

Throughout the rest of the day he still feels that charge of euphoria and unlimited potential. At work he’s so distracted he mixes up the clients’ paperwork and has to have orders repeated to him three times before he processes it; his boss yells at him over a dozen times but he still can’t shake that feeling. Junsu sees him and can only smile, briefly whispering in Changmin’s ear that he must really have it bad. Changmin tells him to shut up you don’t know what you’re talking about but inside, he thinks it’s true.

*

Changmin calls Jaejoong the next day. He’s so nervous and tense as he waits for Jaejoong to pick up it feels like the first time he’s ever done this, and it might as well be- it’s been weeks since he’s gone out with someone and even longer since he felt this way about anyone.

 

“Changmin?”

 

Startled out of his reverie, he almost drops the phone, but instead blurts out, “Oh. Yes. That’s me?”

 

There’s a laugh on the other end, and Changmin fights a blush before continuing, “Hi. Jaejoong? I was wondering if you’d like to. Um. Go out again. Are you free? Today?” He can practically feel his face burning and now fervently hopes Jaejoong is partially deaf and therefore didn’t notice his babbling on.

 

Jaejoong puts him out of his misery by graciously responding, “I’d love to.” (Changmin almost wilts in relief.) He continues, “I know this great place to go for dinner too. I’ll pick you up at 7.”

 

Changmin manages to squeak out an ‘okay’ before hanging up, collapsing on his bed, and hiding his face in his pillow. Who cares if that was quite possibly the most embarrassing experience he’s had in his young life? He’s got a date, and that’s all that matters right now.

*

It’s almost 7 exactly when Jaejoong arrives (not that he was looking at his clock the whole time or anything), and Changmin comes down to meet him. Jaejoong’s holding a single rose, and when he sees him he flourishes it grandly and announces, “For you.”

 

Changmin surprises himself by laughing and saying, “Cheesy,” but he goes back to his apartment to put it in some water anyways.

 

“I figure second dates warrant flowers,” Jaejoong says cheerily as they get into his car.

 

“How about third dates?” he finds himself saying before his brain can catch up with his mouth, but Jaejoong just grins widely.

 

“You’ll just have to find out for yourself, won’t you?”

*

Later, after dinner, Jaejoong takes him to a beach he’s never heard of, miles away from home and familiarity. The only warning he gets is when they’re both in the car and Jaejoong turns to him.

 

“You don’t have anywhere you need to be, do you?”

 

Changmin notes the time (luminescent green numbers that say 11:00, PM) and thinks of the amount of paperwork still sitting on his desk at home (sheaves of papers that need to be sorted and filed and turned in). And then he looks at Jaejoong (he outweighs them all).

 

“Nope,” he says. “I’ve got nothing to do.”

 

Jaejoong gives him an odd half-smile, as if he knows Changmin’s lying and knows why, too. But all he says is, “Good. I’ve got something I want to show you.”

After an hour of driving, Changmin can see the glint of water and the movement of the ocean from his window. He’s suddenly all too aware of what exactly he’s doing and just how ridiculous it seems. Here he is, sacrificing work and his normal, efficient schedule  to go explore a beach, at midnight, with a man he barely knows.

 

“I only take the people I like best here,” Jaejoong says, face serious, and then ruins the effect by laughing, covering his mouth and turning away.

 

Changmin puts on his brightest smile and remarks, “I feel so special.”

 

But when he’s actually on the beach he has to catch his breath, because it is beautiful. It’s so different from what Changmin’s become accustomed to- crowded subways and concrete streets and colorless offices. He’s forgotten how beautiful nature can be, and Changmin longs to stay there forever and just watch the waves flow across the sand and see the moon glimmering on the black water.

 

Jaejoong is watching him when he finally turns away. “Do you like it?” he asks, playing with the hem of his shirt. Changmin walks over and hugs him tightly, whispers, “Thank you,” in his ear.

 

When he pulls away Jaejoong shivers slightly, and Changmin automatically slips off his jacket and offers it to him. Jaejoong takes it, and then says generously, “We can share it.” They sit together on the sand, huddled under the one jacket, and they say nothing and just wait, wait for the sun to rise.