Super Junior: donghae's guide on how to proclaim your love
donghae's guide on how to proclaim your love
super junior: kihae
pg-13, 5215 words
kibum is a fairly unknown actor, still new to the scene and trying to make it big. so he's a little puzzled as to why he seems to have his own personal paparazzi - one who follows him around everywhere he goes and tries to talk him into private interviews.
a/n: written for meiface's birthday, and based off this inception prompt but applied to kihae. :3 also, a million thank yous to delocalised for all of her cheerleading and editting - without her, this would have taken me twice as long to write.
"What the hell is going on," Kibum said as looked out the darkened window of the company car.
He was supposed to go in for the promotional photoshoot for the new drama he was in today, and Kibum would have understood why it was a big deal if it had been a group shoot. After all, some of his fellow actors - like Kim Heechul, for example - were actually fairly famous; he could understand why the media would have been all over that.
As it was, today was for individual shots, and it had been decided that each of them would be photographed in a different location, for "a more exciting atmosphere", or so the director had said. Kibum played a supporting character - big enough to have a role in the plotline, but small enough that his character wasn't actually strictly necessary. Kibum couldn't complain though - considering who he was working with, he knew he'd been lucky to get the role. If he got enough attention from this, he'd definitely be able to get a bigger and better role for his next job.
... which didn't explain why there seemed to be at least half a dozen reporters waiting outside the photoshoot location with cameras at the ready.
"Maybe they got your location mixed up with Heechul's," Sungmin suggested from beside him, a smirk in his voice. Kibum aimed an unamused look at his manager, knowing that Sungmin was secretly laughing at him.
"Whatever, let's get it over with," he said, swinging open the car door abruptly and stepping out.
Immediately, the cameras were upon him, the flashes nearly blinding him as Sungmin herded him in the right direction. Unfortunately for him, Kibum was stopped just in front of the sidedoor he had been about to step through by a photographer who didn't look much older than him. He was about the same height as Kibum, with slightly rumpled-looking hair and a smile that seemed wide enough to be too big for his face. He was attractive, Kibum noted, although he probably would've been a lot more appreciative if said man wasn't currently blocking the door.
"Hello Kibum-sshi, my name is Lee Donghae!" the photographer chirped, and Kibum temporarily revised his opinion of the man's attractiveness - the amount of enthusiasm and energy in his voice made Kibum want to hit him in the face. "My friend and I are here from the The Weekly Heartthrob, and we'd love to have you for an interview after this if you're free."
"Sorry, but I'm not," Kibum said, trying to be as polite as possible under the circumstances, but it still came out brusquely. Sungmin tactfully chose that moment to push Donghae aside and pull the door open. Slipping into the building, Kibum swallowed a small sigh of relief.
"Don't worry about it too much - you can think of that as practice for when you become famous and every reporter in Korea is hounding you," Sungmin told him cheerfully, and Kibum only bit back a scathing retort because the stylists for the shoot chose that moment to descend upon him with makeup palettes and clothing for him to change into.
That should have been the end of the matter, except it wasn't. Donghae was still there when he came out of his shoot. He was also there the next time Kibum was grabbing a coffee between filming, and the time after that, when Kibum was doing shoot for a CF completely unrelated to his drama.
"Why won't he leave me alone," he complained later, as he laid face-down on Sungmin's couch with his eyes closed.
"I think it's cute," Sungmin told him unhelpfully, not looking up from the latest episode of The Bachelor he'd loaded onto his computer. "Plus, you should be thankful - The Weekly Heartthrob is one of South Korea's most popular entertainment magazines for the teen and young adult demography, and Eunhyuk and Donghae are their top reporter-photographer pair. The fact that they're paying attention to you means other media outlets are more likely to be interested in you. Haven't you noticed that you've been getting more coverage than usual lately?"
Kibum had noticed, and thought that he could probably be forgiven for not being happy about never being left alone anymore. "How do they even know what my schedule is?" he asked, frustrated.
Sungmin shrugged. "They must have a source somewhere. It is a little odd though - I've been extra careful with your schedule lately. They must be really good at what they do."
"What's it going to take to make them stop?"
Sungmin laughed as if he'd just said something hilarious. "They're never going to stop, you know - that's what happens when you get famous. But..." Here, he paused, looking thoughtful. "If you want them to tone down a little, it might actually be a good idea to give them an interview like they want."
Kibum lifted his head up enough to stare at him. "How is that going to help? It'll just encourage them, if anything."
"No, you're not getting the point," Sungmin said. "Basically, right now, you're this mysterious persona that no one really knows about - and now that Donghae's gotten people's attention on you, everyone wants to know more. If you just feed them some information - enough to satisfy them a little - then people will be less curious and the media will leave you alone for a while."
Kibum looked at him dubiously. "Just so you know - if you're wrong, I'm going to make you regret it later."
Sungmin just grinned and shot a peace sign at him. "Trust me, it'll be fine. I'll just schedule it for next week then - you wrap up early on Friday."
~
So according to Eunhyuk, Donghae was behaving exactly like a creepy stalker - the kind people called the police on - but it wasn't exactly his fault, okay. Because seriously, had Eunhyuk even laid eyes on Kim Kibum? The other man had just appeared in the acting scene a year and a half ago, and when Donghae had seen him at an award show that very first time and taken in the muscled figure and gorgeous smile, Eunhyuk had had to practically drag him away.
Going home that night, he'd immediately looked up all and any information the internet had on Kim Kibum. Not that there had been much. There was basic information, of course, and a list of works he'd been involved in - but all in all, it had been obvious that Kibum was still very new to the scene.
The other man getting involved in a drama with Heechul had been like a gift that had fallen into his lap - because after Heechul (whom Donghae had known for years and years) had finished laughing himself stupid at Donghae's little crush, he'd somehow managed to get his hands on Kibum's daily schedule. And had given it to Donghae, after extracting promises of eternal devotion Donghae was only too happy to give.
Suddenly, his attempts to keep track of Kibum got a million times easier. From there, it hadn't been too difficult to plant himself in front of Kibum and get himself noticed. The fact that it had been negative attention had bothered him a little, because he rather thought Kibum hadn't been too pleased to see him - but he thought to himself that he could definitely work on that part.
So of course, when Lee Sungmin contacted him out of the blue a few days later and said that Kibum was interested in doing an interview with him, Donghae nearly fell over in his excitement.
~
Next week came quickly. Before Kibum knew it, he had been herded into a small office at The Weekly Heartthrob and was a being enthusiastically greeted. "I'm so happy to have you here," Donghae said, giving him wide grin and pumping his hand enthusiastically. Kibum had to admit that his cheerfulness was slightly infectious - it was hard to stay nonchalant in the face of such eagerness, even though Kibum had no idea why Donghae even cared about an interview with Kibum.
Finally getting his hand back, Kibum looked around the room curiously. "So where's Eunhyuk then? I thought he was the reporter?"
Donghae paused, looking suddenly nervous as he replied. "Er - something came up for him today, so I'm just going to be doing the interview."
Kibum shrugged, not sure what to make of this abrupt change in demeanor. "Sure, whatever. I'd like to get started then if you don't mind - I don't have a lot of time today."
As far as interviews went, it was fairly standard. Donghae seemed slightly jittery for reasons Kibum couldn't fathom, and it wasn't exactly Kibum's business anyway. Instead, he focused on getting this over with as soon as possible. He'd always been the quiet type, and as a result, had never been a big fan of interviews, especially individual ones - there was just too much attention on him alone. When the hour was finally up, he gave an internal sigh of relief, and was preparing to make his excuses and leave when the door to the office suddenly banged open and Kim Heechul flounced in.
Before Kibum could say a word in greeting, Donghae jumped up. "Hyung!" he said, surprise written clearly on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard my favourite dongsaeng was interviewing my co-star, so I decided to pop in," Heechul said airily.
Kibum finally got a chance to open his mouth when Heechul turned to him. "Heechul-sshi," he said, his greeting more reserved.
Instead of sitting in the spare chair, Heechul settled himself onto Donghae's table. "So how's the interview going?" he asked.
"We were just wrapping up," Kibum explained, motioning to the company car already waiting for him outside.
"So soon?" Heechul asked, and his eyes shot a quick look at Donghae.
"He agreed to a one-hour one," Donghae explained, voice slightly subdued, and Kibum got the uncanny feeling that he was missing something here.
"One hour! That's far too short for any sort of decent interview - you'll definitely have to do a follow up," Heechul said decisively, then smirked. "I have an idea - how about Kibum and I do a dual interview with you?"
"What," Kibum said, staring at Heechul. The whole point of doing this was so that he could avoid the paparazzi for a while - there was no way he was going to willingly submit himself to a followup. "Sorry Heechul-sshi, but that's not going to be possible - my schedule's kind of full." He shot Heechul a look that he hoped was apologetic enough, wondering what the redhead was trying to do.
Heechul waved a perfectly manicured hand dismissively in his face. "Oh please, don't be like that! I'm sure Sungmin will find some way to schedule you in - just tell him I said I'd love to do a dual interview." He paused for a second, his lips suddenly curving into a smirk. "Actually, I have a better idea. Since you're so busy, Kibum-sshi, why don't we do an interview over dinner? Even you have to eat - we won't be taking up much extra time."
Kibum swallowed back the automatic "wait, you know Sungmin?" that had been at the tip of his tongue in favour of staring at Heechul as if he'd grown a second head.
Before he could outright refuse, Donghae turned to him with the most ridiculous pleading expression Kibum had ever seen. "Would that be alright, Kibum-sshi? I'd really appreciate it if you could do that - you and Heechul-hyung would make such a great story together."
Kibum mentally sighed. Donghae was hard to refuse, especially when he was aiming those ridiculous puppy eyes at him. But regardless, he hated interviews, and so there was no way he was agreeing to this. Opening his mouth, he had every intention of giving a polite no - except for some reason, without his explicit permission, of course slipped out instead.
He immediately opened his mouth again to correct himself, except Donghae was already jumping up and beaming as if he'd been handed the world on a platter, and something about his expression made Kibum's throat dry up. Which was kind of ridiculously - really, this whole thing was ridiculous, because Kibum still didn't understand where all of Donghae's enthusiasm was coming from. It was true that an interview with Heechul was a big deal, but it was obvious that those two knew each other on more than just a professional level. It shouldn't have been hard for Donghae to score an interview with Heechul. The only reason that made sense was that Donghae must be excited about interviewing Kibum - except that made no sense either, because as far as Kibum was concerned, he didn't think himself to be that interesting of a person.
"Well, it's all set then. Let's say 7PM, Wednesday evening at Shangri-la? I'll book us a table in the private rooms." Before Kibum could agree or disagree, Heechul checked his watched in an exaggerated manner, exclaimed loudly that he was late, then disappeared out the door.
Donghae turned to him, then ducked his head in a slightly embarrassed manner that Kibum mentally insisted he didn't find cute at all. "I guess I'll see you Wednesday then, Kibum-sshi," he said with a bow as he backed out of the room.
"What the hell is wrong with Kim Heechul," Kibum raged at Sungmin afterward. "He just stormed in in the middle of my interview, signed me up for an interview I didn't suggest or volunteer for, then left before I could say a word. Seriously, what the hell?"
Sungmin shrugged, looking a little embarrassed for no reason Kibum could fathom. "Heechul-hyung's a little special," he said. "It's best to go along with him. Plus, it'll be good publicity for you! You know any interview with Kim Heechul is going to sell out."
Kibum was too distracted by the first bit of that sentence. "Wait, did you say hyung? Do you know Heechul or something?"
"Oh, we've been going to the same salon for ages - I ran into him a few years back when I was going in for a pedicure and we ended up chatting."
Kibum shook his head in disbelief, and would have given Sungmin more grief about having never mentioned this at all, when Sungmin suddenly grinned in a way Kibum found slightly ominous. "What," he asked, not sure if he wanted to know.
"Oh, I was just thinking that a dinner interview is actually a pretty good idea." Leaning in, Sungmin lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Come on, don't you think that Lee Donghae is pretty cute?"
"What," Kibum asked, having not expected that at all. He stared at Sungmin, denial on the tip of his tongue even as he wondered if Sungmin was somehow psychic.
"Oh, you know. Cute, single - totally your type," Sungmin said airily. "And have you seen his arms? He totally works out."
Biting back the immediate urge to ask how Sungmin knew about the single bit (god, he must be really going crazy), he crossed his arms, looking the very picture of unamused. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he told Sungmin. "Also, you are a psychopath."
Sungmin just grinned. "Oh, so you're not interested at all then?"
"No. I'm not."
"So if I were to ask him out the next time I see him, you wouldn't have any complaints?"
Damn it, he hated Sungmin and how well the other man knew him sometimes. "No, no complaints," he bit out.
Sungmin laughed out loud. "You always were crap at lying to me, Kibummie," he called over his shoulder as he picked up his file and left the room, leaving Kibum wordless in his wake.
Wednesday evening found Kibum in front of the Shangri-la building. Taking the elevator up to the restaurant itself, he shifted uncomfortably, looking at himself in the reflective surface of the walls. He felt ridiculously overdressed with the dress shirt and expensive black slacks he had on, but Sungmin had taken one look at his original outfit, reeled in horror, and spent the next half an hour picking out the clothing he should wear.
A waiter took him to the private room, where Donghae was already waiting. The other man stood up at his arrival, and if Kibum's honest, he has to force himself not to stare. Donghae had gone the casual route and traded in the formal-wear for a simple white tee and a pair of slightly worn jeans that fit perfectly in all the right places. Sungmin had been right about the working out, he couldn't help thinking, then gave himself a mental shake. "Donghae-sshi," he said instead, hoping his voice sounded normal.
"I'm glad you made it, Kibum-sshi!" Donghae said with a smile. "Here, sit down sit down! I got us some wine - have a drink while we wait!" He checked his watch. "Heechul-sshi shouldn't be too long now."
Kibum accepted the glass with a small smile, and ignored the way their knees brushed as he slid across into the opposite seat.
If all had gone to plan, everything should have worked out fine - except by the time it was 7:20, Heechul still hadn't shown up.
Kibum shook his head, feeling a small headache building. "I don't think Heechul-sshi's going to be showing up after all," he said, voicing what he was sure they'd both been thinking for the last five minutes. Looking at the distracting way Donghae was worrying his lips, Kibum knew he had to get out of here (he was going to kill Sungmin later for putting the idea in his head in the first place) before he did something ridiculous. Standing up abruptly, he reached for his bag, ready to make his excuses.
"Wait," Donghae said first, jumping up so quickly his knee crashed into the table. He didn't even wince though, his attention entirely focused on Kibum. "Where are you going?"
Kibum shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. "There isn't much point doing this if he's not here, is there?"
"No no, what are you talking about, it's great that he's not here!" Donghae said, before his eyes widened and he quickly backtracked. "I mean, obviously it would be better if he was here, but this doesn't mean we can't do the interview! Plus, you're here already - how about we just eat dinner first and give Heechul-sshi some more time to show up? If he's still not here when we're done, we can just move on to the interview." Here, he paused, a hopeful look on his face. "Please, Kibum-sshi? As a favour to me?"
Christ, this was getting ridiculous, Kibum thought as he sat down heavily, trying not to look at the way Donghae's face transformed into a delighted smile. Pouring himself another glass of wine, he quickly took a gulp as he watched Donghae motion for the waiter to come take their order. It was going to be a long evening.
Two hours and an entire bottle of wine later, Kibum had the sneaking suspicion that he'd been slightly overenthusiastic in his attempt to Not Think about Donghae's stupid smile. The room was looking suspiciously shaky around him, and he detachedly observed that the wall behind Donghae's head seemed to be spinning.
"Kibum-sshi?" Donghae's voice said, seemingly from right by his ear. "Are you feeling alright?"
Kibum aimed a smile in his general direction. "I feel great!" he said, his words slurring a little in his attempt to make a point of it. "Never better!"
"Oh my god, you're drunk," Donghae said, sounding horrified.
"No I'm not!" Kibum insisted loudly.
"Oh my god," Donghae repeated, then looked around wildly as if hoping for divine intervention. "Um. I should get you home, I guess." He waved for the bill, then stood up to come to Kibum's side of the table. "Please, Kibum-sshi, you need to get up."
"I told you I'm fine!" Kibum said, even louder, in case Donghae hadn't heard him the last time, but allowed Donghae to coax him into a standing position anyway. From there, he promptly staggered, stumbling into Donghae as his legs suddenly decided to fail on him.
Donghae pulled him back up again surprisingly easily, and Kibum decided that Sungmin had definitely been right about the working out after all. "Where are we going?" he asked as he found himself led out of the restaurant.
"Could you tell me the your manager's cell number?" Donghae asked, looking a little desperate, although why, Kibum really couldn't fathom.
"Sungmin?" he asked, laughing a little. "He's not home, he has a late meeting with management today. What do you want to tell Sungmin, anyway?" He peered at Donghae's face closely, trying to detect any lies. "You know you can tell me anything you would tell him, right? You trust me, don't you?"
"I- of course I do, but I need someone to come take you home," Donghae stuttered.
"But I don't want to go home! I haven't given you your interview yet!" Kibum frowned. "You still want your interview, don't you?"
Donghae seemed to flail a little under his gaze. "Um, yes yes, of course. Er, I can interview you there, if you want to, but we really need to get you home first, Kibum-sshi."
"Oh. Okay," Kibum said, satisfied now that he knew what was going on. "Okay! I'll tell you my address, but you can't tell anyone else, okay?" He gave Donghae's a conspiratorial look. "It's a secret, you see - because I have this photographer from The Weekly Heartthrob who's been stalking me anywhere I go, and I can't let him find out." He paused, the frowned. "Except I'm not sure why, because he's actually really cute..."
"What?" The other man squeaked. "You think he's cute?"
"Really really cute," Kibum said insistently, and was going to attempt to show how much by stretching his arms out as far out as he could - except he lost his balance halfway through and stumbled again.
Donghae sighed helplessly. "Alright, Kibum-sshi," he said, tugging Kibum upright again. "I'm going to hail a taxi, and then you can tell me your address - which I promise I'll keep secret - and then we can get you home."
~
By the time Donghae managed to get Kibum inside his flat, it as a good hour later, and his arms were tired from almost entirely supporting Kibum's weight. The other man had a relaxed smile on his face, a far cry from his usual serious expression, and Donghae thought with a mental sigh that it made Kibum look even more handsome, if that was even humanly possible.
And, if he hadn't interpreted it wrong, Kibum had admitted to thinking he was cute too, he thought, his heart jumping a little. It was just too bad that Kibum was too drunk right now for Donghae to figure out if he meant it. Still, he would take what he could get.
Helping Kibum to his bedroom after getting Kibum to brush his teeth, he awkwardly pulled off the other man's shoes, then firmly decided to leave everything else on. Pulling the covers over Kibum's body, he couldn't help but smile a little at the sight. "I'll see you some other time then, Kibum-sshi," he said with a sigh, then turned to leave.
Except a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could take a step.
"Donghae, are you going to leave me alone?" Kibum complained, sitting up with a disgruntled expression on his face, and Donghae's heart leapt a little at the way there was no honorific behind his name.
"You should sleep, Kibum-sshi - you wouldn't want me to stay if you were sober," he said instead with a little sigh, knowing that it was true.
"How would you know?" Kibum demanded. "I'll have you know that I do want you to stay, and I'm very sober right now!" He gave a uncharacteristic grin and god, he was gorgeous, Donghae thought, knowing that his thought processes were steadily degrading the longer he spent in Kibum's company but unable to stop hiself.
But the fact that Kibum was confident he wasn't drunk just proved how very drunk he was. It didn't matter what Kibum said; in this state, Donghae couldn't stay - it would just be taking advantage.
Opening his mouth to explain again, Donghae was surprised when Kibum suddenly gave Donghae's arm a sharp tug, pulling him forward and off-balance. Stumbling, he fell forward onto the bed with a soft oomph!.
His brain chose that moment to start up a mantra of oh my god I'm lying on top of Kim Kibum, and Donghae froze.
Kibum, however, had no such reservations. Instead of letting go, he pulled closer instead, and before long, Donghae found himself awkwardly encircled by Kibum's arms.
"Oh my god," he said weakly.
"I'm going to sleep now," Kibum announced, then promptly closed his eyes, his arms still wrapped around Donghae so that Donghae couldn't pull free.
Needless to say, Donghae didn't get a single wink of sleep that night.
~
Kibum woke with a hangover from hell and a warm body against his side.
Wait, did I pick someone up at a bar last night? he wondered, trying to remember. Whoever it was, their hair was tickling the side of his face. As far as he could remember, he hadn't actually gone anywhere after filming. He hadn't even had anything on his schedule. Except...
... for the dinner meeting with Donghae and Heechul for that dual interview. The one Heechul had never shown up to.
Everything came rushing back with disgusting clarity.
Oh my god. He hadn't actually gotten so drunk he'd needed to be brought home, had he? Kibum stiffened, and immediately regretted it as the person who he had his arms wrapped around tensed up too.
"Kibum-sshi?" came a familiar voice from the vicinity of Kibum's neck, and Kibum mentally groaned. God, he had. He really really had.
Letting go as quickly as he could and ignoring the way his body felt cold all of a sudden, he forced himself into a sitting position. Opening his mouth, he stopped again, wondering what he could possibly say in a situation like this. "Donghae-sshi," he said finally, the name coming out raspy, then paused to swallow. "I. Really can't apologize enough for my behavior last night."
"No no, it's fine -" the other man started, but Kibum cut him off.
"It was utterly unprofessional of me, and you should've have had to deal with that." His cheeks burned at the thought of his own actions - Donghae must've thought he was a total nutjob - and the pounding in his head didn't help. "I'll make up for the missed interview last night as soon as possible, and I'm so sorry for all this trouble." He paused, looking up as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I - you still want an interview, don't you?"
Donghae gave a small laugh. "Of course I do, Kibum-sshi. Don't worry about it - it happens to all of us. But. There is one thing I'd really like to ask." Donghae avoided his gaze, seemingly staring at a spot on the wall instead.
"Yes?" Kibum replied, suddenly nervous - but no matter what Donghae asked, he pretty much owed it to the other man to answer any questions.
"I just wanted to know. Did you mean what you said last night? About... your opinion of me." Donghae still didn't meet his eyes, a light blush staining his cheeks.
Considering everything Donghae could've asked, this was the last thing Kibum had expected, and he gaped at Donghae like an idiot for a good minute - long enough for Donghae to open his mouth again, as if to take back his question. But all things considered, he hardly had anything to lose now, did he? It wasn't like Donghae could ever be interested after the spectacle he's made of himself. "What if I did?" Kibum asked tiredly.
"Because. Well. If you meant it. I think. I'd like it if we could do dinner again. Just... the two of us." Donghae ducked his head in an embarrassed manner, blushing bright red as he continued to avoid Kibum's gaze, and Kibum was left speechless again for the second time in five minutes.
Because for reasons Kibum couldn't even fathom, Donghae wanted to see him again.
There was a moment of silence, and apparently Kibum had taken too long to reply, because Donghae started babbling again. "Not that you have to, of course. Only if you're free - and only if you want to - but if not, that's okay too, I understand. Or, -"
"Donghae -"
"- if you'd rather do coffee or something instead, that's okay too, anything you want is -"
A slow smile unfurled on his lips at the realization that he was being given a second chance. "Donghae," he said again firmly, and when the other man didn't seem to hear him, he made up his mind and shut Donghae up in the first way he could think of.
Donghae's eyes were wide, and the pressure of his slightly chapped lips against his own made him smile.
Pulling back, Kibum let the smile spread across his face. "Please. I'd love to have dinner with you," he said.
~
Two weeks later.
Love Match made in Heaven?
by The Weekly Heartthrob reporter Lee Eunhyuk
Up-and-coming actor Kim Kibum was spotted in Celebrity, one of the city's most exclusive clubs, last night with our very own photographer, Lee Donghae, on his arms. Other club-goers that night included Kim Heechul and manager Lee Sungmin. Inside sources report that the happy duo seemed very much interested in each other, talking and laughing over drinks, and there may have even been some making out involved. Check out page 5 for more details, including the hottest photos from last night!
Donghae buried his face into his arms with a small groan, letting the magazine flutter to the floor.
Kibum picked it up and flipped through it with a smirk. "Well, at least they only got the kissing photos," he said with a shrug. Which, all things considered, was something to be thankful for.
Donghae didn't seem reassured. "I am going to kill Hyukkie later," he said out loud. "And Heechul-hyung."
Kibum laughed as he stood up, grabbing his jacket from the chair on the way. "I'm going to have to run now if I don't want to be late for filming," he said, pressing his lips to Donghae's cheek briefly. "I'll see you for dinner later? I'll come pick you up." Donghae made a small sound of agreement.
He stepped out into the fresh autumn morning and pulled the door shut behind him, smiling as he looked up at the blue blue sky. It was going to be a good day, he could tell - and, he mused, he may have thank you calls to make to The Weekly Heartthrob and his co-star later.
-- ♥ happy birthday, mei.
super junior: kihae
pg-13, 5215 words
kibum is a fairly unknown actor, still new to the scene and trying to make it big. so he's a little puzzled as to why he seems to have his own personal paparazzi - one who follows him around everywhere he goes and tries to talk him into private interviews.
a/n: written for meiface's birthday, and based off this inception prompt but applied to kihae. :3 also, a million thank yous to delocalised for all of her cheerleading and editting - without her, this would have taken me twice as long to write.
"What the hell is going on," Kibum said as looked out the darkened window of the company car.
He was supposed to go in for the promotional photoshoot for the new drama he was in today, and Kibum would have understood why it was a big deal if it had been a group shoot. After all, some of his fellow actors - like Kim Heechul, for example - were actually fairly famous; he could understand why the media would have been all over that.
As it was, today was for individual shots, and it had been decided that each of them would be photographed in a different location, for "a more exciting atmosphere", or so the director had said. Kibum played a supporting character - big enough to have a role in the plotline, but small enough that his character wasn't actually strictly necessary. Kibum couldn't complain though - considering who he was working with, he knew he'd been lucky to get the role. If he got enough attention from this, he'd definitely be able to get a bigger and better role for his next job.
... which didn't explain why there seemed to be at least half a dozen reporters waiting outside the photoshoot location with cameras at the ready.
"Maybe they got your location mixed up with Heechul's," Sungmin suggested from beside him, a smirk in his voice. Kibum aimed an unamused look at his manager, knowing that Sungmin was secretly laughing at him.
"Whatever, let's get it over with," he said, swinging open the car door abruptly and stepping out.
Immediately, the cameras were upon him, the flashes nearly blinding him as Sungmin herded him in the right direction. Unfortunately for him, Kibum was stopped just in front of the sidedoor he had been about to step through by a photographer who didn't look much older than him. He was about the same height as Kibum, with slightly rumpled-looking hair and a smile that seemed wide enough to be too big for his face. He was attractive, Kibum noted, although he probably would've been a lot more appreciative if said man wasn't currently blocking the door.
"Hello Kibum-sshi, my name is Lee Donghae!" the photographer chirped, and Kibum temporarily revised his opinion of the man's attractiveness - the amount of enthusiasm and energy in his voice made Kibum want to hit him in the face. "My friend and I are here from the The Weekly Heartthrob, and we'd love to have you for an interview after this if you're free."
"Sorry, but I'm not," Kibum said, trying to be as polite as possible under the circumstances, but it still came out brusquely. Sungmin tactfully chose that moment to push Donghae aside and pull the door open. Slipping into the building, Kibum swallowed a small sigh of relief.
"Don't worry about it too much - you can think of that as practice for when you become famous and every reporter in Korea is hounding you," Sungmin told him cheerfully, and Kibum only bit back a scathing retort because the stylists for the shoot chose that moment to descend upon him with makeup palettes and clothing for him to change into.
That should have been the end of the matter, except it wasn't. Donghae was still there when he came out of his shoot. He was also there the next time Kibum was grabbing a coffee between filming, and the time after that, when Kibum was doing shoot for a CF completely unrelated to his drama.
"Why won't he leave me alone," he complained later, as he laid face-down on Sungmin's couch with his eyes closed.
"I think it's cute," Sungmin told him unhelpfully, not looking up from the latest episode of The Bachelor he'd loaded onto his computer. "Plus, you should be thankful - The Weekly Heartthrob is one of South Korea's most popular entertainment magazines for the teen and young adult demography, and Eunhyuk and Donghae are their top reporter-photographer pair. The fact that they're paying attention to you means other media outlets are more likely to be interested in you. Haven't you noticed that you've been getting more coverage than usual lately?"
Kibum had noticed, and thought that he could probably be forgiven for not being happy about never being left alone anymore. "How do they even know what my schedule is?" he asked, frustrated.
Sungmin shrugged. "They must have a source somewhere. It is a little odd though - I've been extra careful with your schedule lately. They must be really good at what they do."
"What's it going to take to make them stop?"
Sungmin laughed as if he'd just said something hilarious. "They're never going to stop, you know - that's what happens when you get famous. But..." Here, he paused, looking thoughtful. "If you want them to tone down a little, it might actually be a good idea to give them an interview like they want."
Kibum lifted his head up enough to stare at him. "How is that going to help? It'll just encourage them, if anything."
"No, you're not getting the point," Sungmin said. "Basically, right now, you're this mysterious persona that no one really knows about - and now that Donghae's gotten people's attention on you, everyone wants to know more. If you just feed them some information - enough to satisfy them a little - then people will be less curious and the media will leave you alone for a while."
Kibum looked at him dubiously. "Just so you know - if you're wrong, I'm going to make you regret it later."
Sungmin just grinned and shot a peace sign at him. "Trust me, it'll be fine. I'll just schedule it for next week then - you wrap up early on Friday."
~
So according to Eunhyuk, Donghae was behaving exactly like a creepy stalker - the kind people called the police on - but it wasn't exactly his fault, okay. Because seriously, had Eunhyuk even laid eyes on Kim Kibum? The other man had just appeared in the acting scene a year and a half ago, and when Donghae had seen him at an award show that very first time and taken in the muscled figure and gorgeous smile, Eunhyuk had had to practically drag him away.
Going home that night, he'd immediately looked up all and any information the internet had on Kim Kibum. Not that there had been much. There was basic information, of course, and a list of works he'd been involved in - but all in all, it had been obvious that Kibum was still very new to the scene.
The other man getting involved in a drama with Heechul had been like a gift that had fallen into his lap - because after Heechul (whom Donghae had known for years and years) had finished laughing himself stupid at Donghae's little crush, he'd somehow managed to get his hands on Kibum's daily schedule. And had given it to Donghae, after extracting promises of eternal devotion Donghae was only too happy to give.
Suddenly, his attempts to keep track of Kibum got a million times easier. From there, it hadn't been too difficult to plant himself in front of Kibum and get himself noticed. The fact that it had been negative attention had bothered him a little, because he rather thought Kibum hadn't been too pleased to see him - but he thought to himself that he could definitely work on that part.
So of course, when Lee Sungmin contacted him out of the blue a few days later and said that Kibum was interested in doing an interview with him, Donghae nearly fell over in his excitement.
~
Next week came quickly. Before Kibum knew it, he had been herded into a small office at The Weekly Heartthrob and was a being enthusiastically greeted. "I'm so happy to have you here," Donghae said, giving him wide grin and pumping his hand enthusiastically. Kibum had to admit that his cheerfulness was slightly infectious - it was hard to stay nonchalant in the face of such eagerness, even though Kibum had no idea why Donghae even cared about an interview with Kibum.
Finally getting his hand back, Kibum looked around the room curiously. "So where's Eunhyuk then? I thought he was the reporter?"
Donghae paused, looking suddenly nervous as he replied. "Er - something came up for him today, so I'm just going to be doing the interview."
Kibum shrugged, not sure what to make of this abrupt change in demeanor. "Sure, whatever. I'd like to get started then if you don't mind - I don't have a lot of time today."
As far as interviews went, it was fairly standard. Donghae seemed slightly jittery for reasons Kibum couldn't fathom, and it wasn't exactly Kibum's business anyway. Instead, he focused on getting this over with as soon as possible. He'd always been the quiet type, and as a result, had never been a big fan of interviews, especially individual ones - there was just too much attention on him alone. When the hour was finally up, he gave an internal sigh of relief, and was preparing to make his excuses and leave when the door to the office suddenly banged open and Kim Heechul flounced in.
Before Kibum could say a word in greeting, Donghae jumped up. "Hyung!" he said, surprise written clearly on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard my favourite dongsaeng was interviewing my co-star, so I decided to pop in," Heechul said airily.
Kibum finally got a chance to open his mouth when Heechul turned to him. "Heechul-sshi," he said, his greeting more reserved.
Instead of sitting in the spare chair, Heechul settled himself onto Donghae's table. "So how's the interview going?" he asked.
"We were just wrapping up," Kibum explained, motioning to the company car already waiting for him outside.
"So soon?" Heechul asked, and his eyes shot a quick look at Donghae.
"He agreed to a one-hour one," Donghae explained, voice slightly subdued, and Kibum got the uncanny feeling that he was missing something here.
"One hour! That's far too short for any sort of decent interview - you'll definitely have to do a follow up," Heechul said decisively, then smirked. "I have an idea - how about Kibum and I do a dual interview with you?"
"What," Kibum said, staring at Heechul. The whole point of doing this was so that he could avoid the paparazzi for a while - there was no way he was going to willingly submit himself to a followup. "Sorry Heechul-sshi, but that's not going to be possible - my schedule's kind of full." He shot Heechul a look that he hoped was apologetic enough, wondering what the redhead was trying to do.
Heechul waved a perfectly manicured hand dismissively in his face. "Oh please, don't be like that! I'm sure Sungmin will find some way to schedule you in - just tell him I said I'd love to do a dual interview." He paused for a second, his lips suddenly curving into a smirk. "Actually, I have a better idea. Since you're so busy, Kibum-sshi, why don't we do an interview over dinner? Even you have to eat - we won't be taking up much extra time."
Kibum swallowed back the automatic "wait, you know Sungmin?" that had been at the tip of his tongue in favour of staring at Heechul as if he'd grown a second head.
Before he could outright refuse, Donghae turned to him with the most ridiculous pleading expression Kibum had ever seen. "Would that be alright, Kibum-sshi? I'd really appreciate it if you could do that - you and Heechul-hyung would make such a great story together."
Kibum mentally sighed. Donghae was hard to refuse, especially when he was aiming those ridiculous puppy eyes at him. But regardless, he hated interviews, and so there was no way he was agreeing to this. Opening his mouth, he had every intention of giving a polite no - except for some reason, without his explicit permission, of course slipped out instead.
He immediately opened his mouth again to correct himself, except Donghae was already jumping up and beaming as if he'd been handed the world on a platter, and something about his expression made Kibum's throat dry up. Which was kind of ridiculously - really, this whole thing was ridiculous, because Kibum still didn't understand where all of Donghae's enthusiasm was coming from. It was true that an interview with Heechul was a big deal, but it was obvious that those two knew each other on more than just a professional level. It shouldn't have been hard for Donghae to score an interview with Heechul. The only reason that made sense was that Donghae must be excited about interviewing Kibum - except that made no sense either, because as far as Kibum was concerned, he didn't think himself to be that interesting of a person.
"Well, it's all set then. Let's say 7PM, Wednesday evening at Shangri-la? I'll book us a table in the private rooms." Before Kibum could agree or disagree, Heechul checked his watched in an exaggerated manner, exclaimed loudly that he was late, then disappeared out the door.
Donghae turned to him, then ducked his head in a slightly embarrassed manner that Kibum mentally insisted he didn't find cute at all. "I guess I'll see you Wednesday then, Kibum-sshi," he said with a bow as he backed out of the room.
"What the hell is wrong with Kim Heechul," Kibum raged at Sungmin afterward. "He just stormed in in the middle of my interview, signed me up for an interview I didn't suggest or volunteer for, then left before I could say a word. Seriously, what the hell?"
Sungmin shrugged, looking a little embarrassed for no reason Kibum could fathom. "Heechul-hyung's a little special," he said. "It's best to go along with him. Plus, it'll be good publicity for you! You know any interview with Kim Heechul is going to sell out."
Kibum was too distracted by the first bit of that sentence. "Wait, did you say hyung? Do you know Heechul or something?"
"Oh, we've been going to the same salon for ages - I ran into him a few years back when I was going in for a pedicure and we ended up chatting."
Kibum shook his head in disbelief, and would have given Sungmin more grief about having never mentioned this at all, when Sungmin suddenly grinned in a way Kibum found slightly ominous. "What," he asked, not sure if he wanted to know.
"Oh, I was just thinking that a dinner interview is actually a pretty good idea." Leaning in, Sungmin lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Come on, don't you think that Lee Donghae is pretty cute?"
"What," Kibum asked, having not expected that at all. He stared at Sungmin, denial on the tip of his tongue even as he wondered if Sungmin was somehow psychic.
"Oh, you know. Cute, single - totally your type," Sungmin said airily. "And have you seen his arms? He totally works out."
Biting back the immediate urge to ask how Sungmin knew about the single bit (god, he must be really going crazy), he crossed his arms, looking the very picture of unamused. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he told Sungmin. "Also, you are a psychopath."
Sungmin just grinned. "Oh, so you're not interested at all then?"
"No. I'm not."
"So if I were to ask him out the next time I see him, you wouldn't have any complaints?"
Damn it, he hated Sungmin and how well the other man knew him sometimes. "No, no complaints," he bit out.
Sungmin laughed out loud. "You always were crap at lying to me, Kibummie," he called over his shoulder as he picked up his file and left the room, leaving Kibum wordless in his wake.
Wednesday evening found Kibum in front of the Shangri-la building. Taking the elevator up to the restaurant itself, he shifted uncomfortably, looking at himself in the reflective surface of the walls. He felt ridiculously overdressed with the dress shirt and expensive black slacks he had on, but Sungmin had taken one look at his original outfit, reeled in horror, and spent the next half an hour picking out the clothing he should wear.
A waiter took him to the private room, where Donghae was already waiting. The other man stood up at his arrival, and if Kibum's honest, he has to force himself not to stare. Donghae had gone the casual route and traded in the formal-wear for a simple white tee and a pair of slightly worn jeans that fit perfectly in all the right places. Sungmin had been right about the working out, he couldn't help thinking, then gave himself a mental shake. "Donghae-sshi," he said instead, hoping his voice sounded normal.
"I'm glad you made it, Kibum-sshi!" Donghae said with a smile. "Here, sit down sit down! I got us some wine - have a drink while we wait!" He checked his watch. "Heechul-sshi shouldn't be too long now."
Kibum accepted the glass with a small smile, and ignored the way their knees brushed as he slid across into the opposite seat.
If all had gone to plan, everything should have worked out fine - except by the time it was 7:20, Heechul still hadn't shown up.
Kibum shook his head, feeling a small headache building. "I don't think Heechul-sshi's going to be showing up after all," he said, voicing what he was sure they'd both been thinking for the last five minutes. Looking at the distracting way Donghae was worrying his lips, Kibum knew he had to get out of here (he was going to kill Sungmin later for putting the idea in his head in the first place) before he did something ridiculous. Standing up abruptly, he reached for his bag, ready to make his excuses.
"Wait," Donghae said first, jumping up so quickly his knee crashed into the table. He didn't even wince though, his attention entirely focused on Kibum. "Where are you going?"
Kibum shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. "There isn't much point doing this if he's not here, is there?"
"No no, what are you talking about, it's great that he's not here!" Donghae said, before his eyes widened and he quickly backtracked. "I mean, obviously it would be better if he was here, but this doesn't mean we can't do the interview! Plus, you're here already - how about we just eat dinner first and give Heechul-sshi some more time to show up? If he's still not here when we're done, we can just move on to the interview." Here, he paused, a hopeful look on his face. "Please, Kibum-sshi? As a favour to me?"
Christ, this was getting ridiculous, Kibum thought as he sat down heavily, trying not to look at the way Donghae's face transformed into a delighted smile. Pouring himself another glass of wine, he quickly took a gulp as he watched Donghae motion for the waiter to come take their order. It was going to be a long evening.
Two hours and an entire bottle of wine later, Kibum had the sneaking suspicion that he'd been slightly overenthusiastic in his attempt to Not Think about Donghae's stupid smile. The room was looking suspiciously shaky around him, and he detachedly observed that the wall behind Donghae's head seemed to be spinning.
"Kibum-sshi?" Donghae's voice said, seemingly from right by his ear. "Are you feeling alright?"
Kibum aimed a smile in his general direction. "I feel great!" he said, his words slurring a little in his attempt to make a point of it. "Never better!"
"Oh my god, you're drunk," Donghae said, sounding horrified.
"No I'm not!" Kibum insisted loudly.
"Oh my god," Donghae repeated, then looked around wildly as if hoping for divine intervention. "Um. I should get you home, I guess." He waved for the bill, then stood up to come to Kibum's side of the table. "Please, Kibum-sshi, you need to get up."
"I told you I'm fine!" Kibum said, even louder, in case Donghae hadn't heard him the last time, but allowed Donghae to coax him into a standing position anyway. From there, he promptly staggered, stumbling into Donghae as his legs suddenly decided to fail on him.
Donghae pulled him back up again surprisingly easily, and Kibum decided that Sungmin had definitely been right about the working out after all. "Where are we going?" he asked as he found himself led out of the restaurant.
"Could you tell me the your manager's cell number?" Donghae asked, looking a little desperate, although why, Kibum really couldn't fathom.
"Sungmin?" he asked, laughing a little. "He's not home, he has a late meeting with management today. What do you want to tell Sungmin, anyway?" He peered at Donghae's face closely, trying to detect any lies. "You know you can tell me anything you would tell him, right? You trust me, don't you?"
"I- of course I do, but I need someone to come take you home," Donghae stuttered.
"But I don't want to go home! I haven't given you your interview yet!" Kibum frowned. "You still want your interview, don't you?"
Donghae seemed to flail a little under his gaze. "Um, yes yes, of course. Er, I can interview you there, if you want to, but we really need to get you home first, Kibum-sshi."
"Oh. Okay," Kibum said, satisfied now that he knew what was going on. "Okay! I'll tell you my address, but you can't tell anyone else, okay?" He gave Donghae's a conspiratorial look. "It's a secret, you see - because I have this photographer from The Weekly Heartthrob who's been stalking me anywhere I go, and I can't let him find out." He paused, the frowned. "Except I'm not sure why, because he's actually really cute..."
"What?" The other man squeaked. "You think he's cute?"
"Really really cute," Kibum said insistently, and was going to attempt to show how much by stretching his arms out as far out as he could - except he lost his balance halfway through and stumbled again.
Donghae sighed helplessly. "Alright, Kibum-sshi," he said, tugging Kibum upright again. "I'm going to hail a taxi, and then you can tell me your address - which I promise I'll keep secret - and then we can get you home."
~
By the time Donghae managed to get Kibum inside his flat, it as a good hour later, and his arms were tired from almost entirely supporting Kibum's weight. The other man had a relaxed smile on his face, a far cry from his usual serious expression, and Donghae thought with a mental sigh that it made Kibum look even more handsome, if that was even humanly possible.
And, if he hadn't interpreted it wrong, Kibum had admitted to thinking he was cute too, he thought, his heart jumping a little. It was just too bad that Kibum was too drunk right now for Donghae to figure out if he meant it. Still, he would take what he could get.
Helping Kibum to his bedroom after getting Kibum to brush his teeth, he awkwardly pulled off the other man's shoes, then firmly decided to leave everything else on. Pulling the covers over Kibum's body, he couldn't help but smile a little at the sight. "I'll see you some other time then, Kibum-sshi," he said with a sigh, then turned to leave.
Except a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could take a step.
"Donghae, are you going to leave me alone?" Kibum complained, sitting up with a disgruntled expression on his face, and Donghae's heart leapt a little at the way there was no honorific behind his name.
"You should sleep, Kibum-sshi - you wouldn't want me to stay if you were sober," he said instead with a little sigh, knowing that it was true.
"How would you know?" Kibum demanded. "I'll have you know that I do want you to stay, and I'm very sober right now!" He gave a uncharacteristic grin and god, he was gorgeous, Donghae thought, knowing that his thought processes were steadily degrading the longer he spent in Kibum's company but unable to stop hiself.
But the fact that Kibum was confident he wasn't drunk just proved how very drunk he was. It didn't matter what Kibum said; in this state, Donghae couldn't stay - it would just be taking advantage.
Opening his mouth to explain again, Donghae was surprised when Kibum suddenly gave Donghae's arm a sharp tug, pulling him forward and off-balance. Stumbling, he fell forward onto the bed with a soft oomph!.
His brain chose that moment to start up a mantra of oh my god I'm lying on top of Kim Kibum, and Donghae froze.
Kibum, however, had no such reservations. Instead of letting go, he pulled closer instead, and before long, Donghae found himself awkwardly encircled by Kibum's arms.
"Oh my god," he said weakly.
"I'm going to sleep now," Kibum announced, then promptly closed his eyes, his arms still wrapped around Donghae so that Donghae couldn't pull free.
Needless to say, Donghae didn't get a single wink of sleep that night.
~
Kibum woke with a hangover from hell and a warm body against his side.
Wait, did I pick someone up at a bar last night? he wondered, trying to remember. Whoever it was, their hair was tickling the side of his face. As far as he could remember, he hadn't actually gone anywhere after filming. He hadn't even had anything on his schedule. Except...
... for the dinner meeting with Donghae and Heechul for that dual interview. The one Heechul had never shown up to.
Everything came rushing back with disgusting clarity.
Oh my god. He hadn't actually gotten so drunk he'd needed to be brought home, had he? Kibum stiffened, and immediately regretted it as the person who he had his arms wrapped around tensed up too.
"Kibum-sshi?" came a familiar voice from the vicinity of Kibum's neck, and Kibum mentally groaned. God, he had. He really really had.
Letting go as quickly as he could and ignoring the way his body felt cold all of a sudden, he forced himself into a sitting position. Opening his mouth, he stopped again, wondering what he could possibly say in a situation like this. "Donghae-sshi," he said finally, the name coming out raspy, then paused to swallow. "I. Really can't apologize enough for my behavior last night."
"No no, it's fine -" the other man started, but Kibum cut him off.
"It was utterly unprofessional of me, and you should've have had to deal with that." His cheeks burned at the thought of his own actions - Donghae must've thought he was a total nutjob - and the pounding in his head didn't help. "I'll make up for the missed interview last night as soon as possible, and I'm so sorry for all this trouble." He paused, looking up as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I - you still want an interview, don't you?"
Donghae gave a small laugh. "Of course I do, Kibum-sshi. Don't worry about it - it happens to all of us. But. There is one thing I'd really like to ask." Donghae avoided his gaze, seemingly staring at a spot on the wall instead.
"Yes?" Kibum replied, suddenly nervous - but no matter what Donghae asked, he pretty much owed it to the other man to answer any questions.
"I just wanted to know. Did you mean what you said last night? About... your opinion of me." Donghae still didn't meet his eyes, a light blush staining his cheeks.
Considering everything Donghae could've asked, this was the last thing Kibum had expected, and he gaped at Donghae like an idiot for a good minute - long enough for Donghae to open his mouth again, as if to take back his question. But all things considered, he hardly had anything to lose now, did he? It wasn't like Donghae could ever be interested after the spectacle he's made of himself. "What if I did?" Kibum asked tiredly.
"Because. Well. If you meant it. I think. I'd like it if we could do dinner again. Just... the two of us." Donghae ducked his head in an embarrassed manner, blushing bright red as he continued to avoid Kibum's gaze, and Kibum was left speechless again for the second time in five minutes.
Because for reasons Kibum couldn't even fathom, Donghae wanted to see him again.
There was a moment of silence, and apparently Kibum had taken too long to reply, because Donghae started babbling again. "Not that you have to, of course. Only if you're free - and only if you want to - but if not, that's okay too, I understand. Or, -"
"Donghae -"
"- if you'd rather do coffee or something instead, that's okay too, anything you want is -"
A slow smile unfurled on his lips at the realization that he was being given a second chance. "Donghae," he said again firmly, and when the other man didn't seem to hear him, he made up his mind and shut Donghae up in the first way he could think of.
Donghae's eyes were wide, and the pressure of his slightly chapped lips against his own made him smile.
Pulling back, Kibum let the smile spread across his face. "Please. I'd love to have dinner with you," he said.
~
Two weeks later.
Love Match made in Heaven?
by The Weekly Heartthrob reporter Lee Eunhyuk
Up-and-coming actor Kim Kibum was spotted in Celebrity, one of the city's most exclusive clubs, last night with our very own photographer, Lee Donghae, on his arms. Other club-goers that night included Kim Heechul and manager Lee Sungmin. Inside sources report that the happy duo seemed very much interested in each other, talking and laughing over drinks, and there may have even been some making out involved. Check out page 5 for more details, including the hottest photos from last night!
Donghae buried his face into his arms with a small groan, letting the magazine flutter to the floor.
Kibum picked it up and flipped through it with a smirk. "Well, at least they only got the kissing photos," he said with a shrug. Which, all things considered, was something to be thankful for.
Donghae didn't seem reassured. "I am going to kill Hyukkie later," he said out loud. "And Heechul-hyung."
Kibum laughed as he stood up, grabbing his jacket from the chair on the way. "I'm going to have to run now if I don't want to be late for filming," he said, pressing his lips to Donghae's cheek briefly. "I'll see you for dinner later? I'll come pick you up." Donghae made a small sound of agreement.
He stepped out into the fresh autumn morning and pulled the door shut behind him, smiling as he looked up at the blue blue sky. It was going to be a good day, he could tell - and, he mused, he may have thank you calls to make to The Weekly Heartthrob and his co-star later.
-- ♥ happy birthday, mei.