Text 07 Online Dating

@Nam Joohyuk Dejun wanted to interject and ask if that meant he would be able to meet Joohyuk's friends next time, but he supposed that would naturally come up into conversation later. They were seated right away in the middle of the empty restaurant, and Dejun lightly tapped his feet under the table, already ready to order. He looked at the older, expecting Joohyuk to order for them. "Hyung what are you getting?" he asked, "Samgyetang also?"

@Xiao Dejun Joohyuk counted the opinions from Dejun's friends, but there was one comment missing, and Joohyuk was pretty sure he knew who he had completely failed to impress. Luckily, he didn't seem close enough to Dejun that Dejun would weigh his opinion too heavily, so Joohyuk let it go. "Good, good. I'm glad your friends had a good time. I had a good time too." Gobsoon and Gaeul finished their business, and after Joohyuk cleaned up the area, they continued their walk. "We're here. Samgyetang." Joohyuk opened the door for Dejun first. "Get in."

@Nam Joohyuk Dejun thought that everything their doggies (yes, theirs) did was endearing, even if they were humping up a fire hydrant. He was tempted to just whip out his phone and start recording, but then decided to afford them their privacy. Instead, he was eager to chirp about his friends when prompted, "Well Hendery already knew about you! He said you're really cool. He wants to hang out with you again. Hendery is my best friend, so you'll see him more often. Gyubin and Taerae said you're handsome...so you're a good fit for me!" he giggled, "And Yangyang and Winwin said thank you for the meal. They were really thankful that you let them tag along." Conveniently, Dejun didn't name the one friend who didn't have anything to say about Joohyuk, assuming that his boyfriend wouldn't recall anyways.

@Xiao Dejun Since Gaeul was being curious, Gobsoon decided to join her, so they stood by the hydrant while the dogs did their business. Although Dejun had already reassured Joohyuk, he wasn't able to get the judgmental stare from that one boy off his mind. He shuffled closer to Dejun and nudged him in his side, wanting to sound as if he wasn't that invested in what Dejun's friends thought about him. In reality, Joohyuk was as nervous as he was when he met Dejun's parents. "What exactly... did your friends say about me?"

@Nam Joohyuk "Of course that won't be a regular thing!" Dejun exclaimed. He may have enjoyed showing his boyfriend off, but there was no way he was going to let his boyfriend foot every bill. Even if they did go out again, it was going to be on him, or they'd split it. He beamed at what was essentially a compliment: Joohyuk had never called him the quiet type before! "I just like to listen!" he emphasized to the older. He stopped as Gaeul stopped to sniff at a fire hydrant on the street. "Hyung wait!" he pulled at Joohyuk, "Gaeullie needs a break."

@Xiao Dejun "Are you sure they liked me for reasons other than me paying for dinner?" Joohyuk teased, but he did have a worry at the back of his mind that a few of Dejun's friends might actually think that, especially the one that held his nose high and stared at Joohyuk with the most menacing look Joohyuk had ever seen. "I hope they won't think it's a regular thing." While Joohyuk wanted to make a good impression, he wasn't rich, and he couldn't afford this every single time. "Right, baby, you were borderline silent next to those- next to them."

@Nam Joohyuk They were well on their way to the restaurant when the memories of last night, before the movie fiasco, came back to conversation. Dejun beamed proudly and squeezed Joohyuk's hand as he said, "But they were so impressed hyung! A bunch of them told me how lucky I was to have find you!" Dejun felt like he was the lottery winner when Joohyuk not only made an amazing impression by covering the /entire/ bill (not even the other boyfriends joining them had done that) and then also offered to give some rides to the train station to two of his friends after karaoke. "Hehe, but yes they are pretty wild. I'm calm around them though!"

@Xiao Dejun The samgyetang place near the apartment was dog friendly, and Joohyuk was familiar with the ahjumma who worked there, so they brought the dogs. Joohyuk held Dejun’s hand in one and held Gobsoon’s leash with the other, letting Dejun hold Gaeul’s leash. It was a bright but cold morning, and Joohyuk was quick to pull Dejun’s hand into Joohyuk’s own coat pocket, holding it still there. “Your friends were… rowdy last night.”

@Nam Joohyuk "Let's get samgyetang," Dejun decided as he took Joohyuk's hand and lurched forward to get out of bed. Subconsciously, he was still trying to stay as far away from the edge of the bed as possible. They washed up and got dressed rather quickly that day, since the usual shower that followed was cut out. Once they were out of the apartment, things returned to normal and the fears of the movie ebbed away from his mind.

@Xiao Dejun “You wanna go out?” Joohyuk yawned, letting go of Dejun when he calmed down. “Get up and get ready, then.” Wanting to set a good example as the older one, Joohyuk rose first, the sheets pooling around his waist when he sat up straight. It was rare he went to bed with all his clothes on when he was visiting Dejun, but his boyfriend had truly been too afraid to even blink last night after the movie. Joohyuk slid out of bed first and turned to pull Dejun up. “What do you want to eat?”

@Nam Joohyuk Dejun felt very much aggrieved when Joohyuk accused him of faking his fear. "Don't say that hyung," he huffed, stilling against Joohyuk in bed to convince Joohyuk that he was truly meaning every moment of his anxiousness. Just as Joohyuk had predicted though, Dejun was cranky when he wasn't well rested. "I /feel/ the eyebags under my eyes!" he said, touching his face gently and pressing his palms to his eyes. It was only safe to envelope him in this darkness because Joohyuk was here. "Anyways...let's go out today. I wanna get food."

@Xiao Dejun “I remember what I said.” Joohyuk took the opportunity to lock his arm around Dejun’s neck when Dejun spun into the right position, laughing as he tightened it and choked Dejun into quieting down. “But you look just fine, baby, you’re fighting and screaming and doing all of this. Are you sure you’re actually scared, or are you just faking it now?”

@Nam Joohyuk At first, Dejun really considered agreeing with Joohyuk to just keep Gobsoon and Gaeul with him, but then upon realizing that the older had been prepared to stay longer because of the laptop and work briefcase that he brought along with him, Dejun decided it was a lowball offer. "No!" he wailed at the injustice, "Hyung you made a promise! It was in our text, I'll show you-" he said, though he couldn't make a single move since Joohyuk kept his arms around so tightly. "Ahnggggg hyung, you can't leave! Say it or I won't lay back down!"

@Xiao Dejun Joohyuk, unable to help his grin, turned his head to hide his face against the pillow. Dejun was... too cute, and Joohyuk wanted to hear even more of his whining, although it came at the expense of more strain on his boyfriend's weak heart. "Eo... then Gobsoonie and Gaeullie can stay with you, and then I'll go back to Busan. That's a good idea, right? Then I'll come back next weekend to join you guys and pick them up." He tightened his arms around Dejun so he couldn't struggle too fiercely. "Baby, calm down. It's too early for this."

@Nam Joohyuk Already from the tone of Joohyuk's words, Dejun could tell what the older was trying to imply: he wanted to go home sooner rather than later. "No, it was so hard!" he wailed again, throwing himself against Joohyuk and thrashing about freely now that there was light in the room, "Hyung you can't go home yet!" he declared urgently, "You promised you wouldn't until I feel better about sleeping on my own." At the edge of the bed, Gobsoon was stirred awake too, which Dejun jumped on to say, "Gobsoonie! Tell appa he can't take you guys home yet! I need you!"

@Xiao Dejun Joohyuk was already in a state of wakefulness by the time the sun rose thanks to Dejun's kicking and squirming, so when Dejun suddenly jerked up, Joohyuk was right there to pull him back down again. Dejun was warm, almost feverish, but they had really made it through the night. "Eo, baby," he murmured. "Didn't I tell you there was nothing to be afraid of? You did such a good job, baby. You're gonna be able to sleep by yourself tonight at this rate."

@Nam Joohyuk Since Joohyuk's hand against his bottom was a testament that the older was waiting for him to fall asleep. It did give him a sense of reassurance and eventually lulled Dejun to sleep. He didn't register it as the hours passed by, but he did lash out a few times and kick the sheets as he fidgeted throughout the night in response to the nervousness that popped up here and there. By the next morning, Dejun woke with a start, gasping as he sat up in bed, his body warm and sweaty. "Hyung!" he cried out, "It's morning...we made it-"

@Xiao Dejun "You hang on to me and when you get grabbed, I'll feel you getting pulled away," Joohyuk mumbled, unable to stop his eyes from closing again. He did manage to tighten his arms around Dejun, though, and press a lazy kiss against the top of his head. "If I hug you like this, the ghost will have to get to me first before it gets to you," Joohyuk reasoned, alternating back to patting Dejun's bottom to lull him to sleep. "Try to sleep again, baby. Wake me up if you have another nightmare, okay?"

@Nam Joohyuk "How can you fight it if it grabs me while you're sleeping!" Dejun speculated, clearly lodging a complaint against his tired boyfriend. "Hyung, can you make sure I'm sleeping first before you sleep?" Dejun asked, fully aware how ridiculous his request sounded. It was just that if he didn't get Joohyuk to agree, then he was pretty sure he wasn't going to sleep for the rest of the night. Getting up to do something else wasn't an option either, since he didn't even want to shuffle around in the dark in fear of some apparition that might try to grab him from under the bed. Only when Joohyuk agreed to him did Dejun finally sigh and rest against the older again, closing his eyes and trying to sleep.

@Xiao Dejun "But you have to sleep," Joohyuk murmured, his words barely coherently through his sleepy haze. "You're gonna be tired tomorrow, and when you're tired, you get cranky." He rubbed at Dejun's lower back, fighting sleep just so he could squeeze in a few more comforting words for his boyfriend. As cute as Dejun was when he was hiding against Joohyuk for the movie, it wasn't so cute now. "Baby, just think about it. What's the ghost gonna do if it even shows up? If it grabs you, I'm here to fight it."

@Nam Joohyuk "Eo a nightmare!" Dejun wailed once he realized that he had Joohyuk's attention. He sniffled and leaned into the older's touch, keeping his hands away from his face so Joohyuk could dry his face for him. "Hyung, I told you!" he complained, "Anytime I watch horror movies, this happens" The sound of the eerie ost soundtrack played in his mind again, and Dejun shuddered, burrowing into Joohyuk's hold, "What if I sleep...and have another nightmare!" The thought of that was making him feel even more awake now, which meant he was going to feel even more awful im the morning, if they ever reached that point after this terribly long night.

@Xiao Dejun At one point, Dejun /finally/ fell asleep, probably from sheer exhaustion after a day of play with his friends. Joohyuk woke up at some point after Dejun knocked out, somehow managed to carry Dejun to bed, and promptly fell back asleep. He was then violently woken by Dejun crying in his ear and jabbing him in his side, drawing a startled yelp from him. "What is it?" he grunted, not registering Dejun's complaints at first. His arms automatically circled the younger, drawing Dejun against his chest. "Oh... you had a nightmare, baby? I'm here, it's okay. It's just a bad dream, it's not real." In the dark, he searched for Dejun's face, wiping at his predictably wet cheek before moving to pat his bottom rhythmically, like Joohyuk was soothing a baby. "There, there. It's alright."

@Nam Joohyuk Dejun nodded, taking comfort in Joohyuk's words when his boyfriend was trying so hard to reassure him. He focused on the warmth of Joohyuk's hand in his, allowing it to anchor him to the present while he boldly closed his eyes and rested his head back on Joohyuk's chest. Slowly, he felt his eyelids grow heavy and his breathing steadied as the noise of the movie in the background was drowned out. In the stillness of the night, with Joohyuk's reassuring presence beside him, Dejun finally drifted into a restless slumber, but it was only a few hours later that he was jolted awake, his body drenched in sweat and his heart pounding in his chest. A nightmare had caught up to him, forcing him to run away from an unclean entity in his dreams. The room was dark, and only Joohyuk's breathing indicated that Dejun wasn't alone. "Hyung!" he cried, poking and prodding at the older while on the brink of tears, "I had a nightmare-"

@Xiao Dejun "Eo..." Joohyuk nodded as if he understood. "Then just don't think about it. It's done and over with.." At this rate, Dejun would not let Joohyuk leave the apartment for an entire month. Pulling Dejun's hand out from under his shirt, Joohyuk held it over his stomach, entwining their fingers and clutching Dejun's hand tightly as if telling him that Joohyuk was here and real, and that the ghosts were not. He brought Dejun's fingers to his lips, kissing them in his sleepy stupor. "Try to sleep, baby. Just close your eyes and feel me. There's no ghosts here."

@Nam Joohyuk Dejun never fancied horror movies, and for good reason too. He dreaded the thrill that others seem to crave. It wasn't just the scares on screen in that moment, but the nightmares they prompted that would haunt his sleep for nights on end. The eerie soundtracks would linger in his mind, replaying at the quietest moments. The unnerving scenes would resurface as he walked alone in the dark, sending shivers down his spine. Joohyuk just didn't understand. But if talking about his fears would keep the older up longer with him, then Dejun would cave and spill, "Hyung, the ghosts are so unpleasant to look at. And the music is so creepy it makes my skin crawl. It's not just that, but imagine if those faces were really chasing you! That would give me a heart attack!"

@Xiao Dejun "I'm awake," Joohyuk mumbled, clutching Dejun's hand when he felt it disturb him again. He had no idea how he was going to sit through the rest, because when he checked on the progress with the remote, they were only a quarter way through the movie. Joohyuk forced himself to sit upright, thus lessening the chance of him falling unconscious. "Actually, baby, why don't we talk about it?" he said, his voice hoarse. "What's got you so scared? It's not real, it's just a movie and they film it by putting makeup on the actors and finishing with CGI. If you think about it, there's a lot of work that goes behind the scenes. It's not like they filmed a ghost for real."

@Nam Joohyuk Dejun wasn't reassured by Joohyuk's alternate suggestion. Gobsoon and Gaeul were practically falling asleep right before his very eyes! He couldn't shake off the anxiety of being the last one awake. Each time he heard Joohyuk's breathing slow, he would glance over, nudging the older gently to ensure he was still conscious. "Hyunggg," he called out, concern lacing his voice. Joohyuk would mumble a sleepy affirmation, but Dejun's worry kept him on edge, his eyes darting between the movie and Joohyuk's drowsy face. Ironically, Dejun's heightened alertness only made it harder for him to settle down to actually rest. His mind was a flurry of thoughts, and he felt compelled to keep vigil, creating a restless cycle that prevented him from drifting off to sleep.

@Xiao Dejun "I dunno what that is," Joohyuk mumbled, losing track of Dejun's long string of thoughts already. It was coming to past his bedtime, and Joohyuk was nodding off even if he was quite invested in the movie's story. He was sure he actually nodded off at one point, maybe for a full five seconds, until he was violently shaken awake, pulling a short gasp from him. "Oh, sorry baby," he murmured, blinking the sleep from his eyes to try and focus on the movie again. "But even if I do fall asleep, Gobsoon and Gaeul are right here with you..."

@Nam Joohyuk "He's in that group, EXO, I think," Dejun said, though he wasn't all too familiar with the members. "From what I remember, they're pretty handsome. At least better looking then the most overrated group trending nowadays. The Bulletproof Army or whatever," he rattled off. He ended up resting his hand on Joohyuk's stomach and nodded, "I'm trying hyung..." As the movie continued, Dejun giggled a little, but Joohyuk was getting too quiet. When he peeked up, he saw the older's eyes closed. "Hyunggg," he whined, shaking to wake Joohyuk, "Noooo stay awake with me. You can't sleep first, I'm scareddd."

@Xiao Dejun “Really? Who’s that?” Joohyuk patted the side of Dejun’s arm in a rhythmic manner, a little sleepy himself with how late the horror movie started. Feeling Dejun’s fingers over his stomach, though, Joohyuk smartened up quickly and made sure to flex his core so Dejun wouldn’t feel anything soft under his shirt. “Sleep if you get tired, baby. It’s getting so late.”