xuedong didnât have a cruel bone in his body. to some , it mightâve seemed a blessing â- that a boy as battered by the world as he still couldnât bring himself to push back against it â- but he often found himself wishing that he was more forceful. then he wouldnât be in situations like this , uncomfortable & alone with only one of his favorite meal to comfort him. whatever discomfort he felt towards gunwoo personally was beginning to fade. though slightly too pushy in his flirtations , he was relatively harmless. the tallerâs apology had certainly seemed genuine enough , & it appeared as though he was trying to be good company. perhaps if theyâd met under different circumstances , xuedong would be more inclined to form a lasting friendship , of which he had few. the fact that gunwoo had released him to get ready for the dinner was quite the bonus. it at least provided a momentary respite from the utter humiliation , which he was still fighting to stomach. xuedong was sure heâd remember the day for years to come, & he would get just as red every time the memory resurfaced. he felt a lot better now that there werenât as many layers on him. the thick wool sweater heâd donned that morning only added to the suffocation he felt ; now in a starched cotton dress shirt , sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he delicately lifted his fork to his mouth. â itâs no problem. oh , please , you flatter me , gunwoo - ssi , â xuedong mumbled , a magnanimous dip of his head following his quiet words. he wasnât quite sure how to respond to the compliments , confident that if he returned some of his own , it might be misconstrued as interest. & that was that last thing that xuedong wanted. it isnât a big deal , he reminded himself. what happened was embarrassing on all accounts , but no harm was done & heâs just trying to be a nice guy.
   allowing himself a light smile , xuedong dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. â i normally donât have much of an appetite , so feel free to pilfer from my plate if youâd like. â yes. yes. he could do this , he could have civilized conversation â- he might even be enticed to tease , as he just displayed. â my father always said that mushrooms and garlic butter make any dish better. while i was naturally inclined to offer up several counters to this assessment , i have to say that there are just as many instances where it is correct. â but his father was always the opulent sort , recently taking to the gold food trend. it looked pretty enough ; xuedong just didnât think it was wise to spend so much money on something you were going to eat anyway. ironic , consider his own refined tastes. but at least he wasnât actively consuming gold just because it was , in fact , gold. â what of you ? i understand that we come from ⊠similar backgrounds , at least in terms of socioeconomic class if nothing else. iâve realized there arenât actually many of us , our ilk â- does that sound ⊠discriminatory if i put it that way ? â- in the industry. one would think connections breed careers , but it seems a modicum of talent is involved. which you have in spades , of course. â he paused. â ah , my original question was intended to discern your taste in food , but i went on a tangent ⊠â thatâs what happens when you force yourself to be comfortable , he supposed.
   in his light , self - contained shame , he reached for the glass of wine before him. never much of a drinker , he hoped that his distaste for the drink didnât show. sophisticated people drank wine , didnât they ? xuedong liked to think of himself as sophisticated. oh , he shouldâve just said no. or suggested getting some street food or something instead. the weightiness of an italian restaurant ( really , it was just pasta , an overly familiar voice snorted ) had him struggling to overcompensate. sure , if theyâd decided to get fast food or something less formal , there was a greater chance theyâd be spotted by fans , but he didnât mind that. instead , heâd allowed his taste buds to get the better of him. a regular prometheus , he is. but he wasnât ⊠not having fun , as far as dinners could go. heâd had far more uncomfortable meals during his lifetime. a few family reunions came to mind , where awards were â carelessly â dropped in an attempt to one - up another. as an idol , heâd been left out of most of it. not professional enough , he supposed , to be seen as any sort of competition to everyone else. he certainly wasnât anywhere near his fatherâs level of heartthrob , at any rate. no , this wasnât nearly as stressful as watching the shouting matches from the sidelines. he had good enough company.
    donning an ensemble that cost an exorbitant amount of funds, gunwoo did his best not to besmirch any of the garments that clung to his virile frame with particles of food & drink. while he was taught formal table manners through the HOURS UPON HOURS of etiquette lessons as a child, his mind was often elsewhere that almost none of them stuck ; his large fingers never truly bending properly to cradle chopsticks or cutlery in a firm, yet pliable, grip, so more often than not, he would leave restaurants or dinners with splatters of sauce decorating his clothing. however, being that he had already made quite the unruly impression on the man seated across the way from him earlier in the afternoon, he didnât want to continue to appear slightly juvenile & unkempt, especially when the ever â handsome danseur he was treating to supper carried such an ethereal grace with each & every one of his motions. intrigued pupils couldnât help but gleam at the soft, sweet way with which he ate his food, & he hoped that his occasional gazing wouldnât make xuedong uncomfortable. gunwoo simply couldnât help beholding such beauty whenever it was presented to him, & it was becoming even more apparent than before that, to him, this night â out in gangnam was a FIRST DATE between he & IMPULSEâs lead vocalist. whether or not that was agreed upon hadnât been discussed, but he hoped that the other felt similarly. however, if for some reason he did not, the taller would still be all right with it. after all, he wanted to forge a bond between them, & while he wouldâve preferred it to be constructed upon foundations of romance & carnal desires, he would learn to live with platonic relations.
    a deep, content sigh fluttered from betwixt full lips, & he continued to revel in the savory taste of his entrĂ©e ; his tastebuds rejoicing due to the harmonious combinations of spices & herbs found on his plate. however, as he was spoken to, he ceased his chewing & gave his guest his undivided & willing attention ; happy to allow each singsong syllable to grace his large ears & cause him to smile at what all was being communicated. nodding his head, he took note of the otherâs gracious offering, & knew that, before their time at I HAVE A DREAM came to its conclusion, heâd help himself to a spoonful of xuedongâs coveted truffle risotto. â i think thatâs where you & i differ as far as food goes, you see... â the heir began, setting the silverware he held down upon the flat surface of the table. â i have an extremely hearty appetite, & i often find that iâm constantly hungry for some sort of food. iâm not sure if itâs due to how much i frequent the gym, or how tall i am, or whatever else, but man... i could eat all day, everyday, & still not be completely satiated. â a low chuckle escaped him as he lifted his glass of wine from its stem & took yet another sip, his incredibly high tolerance for alcohol allowing him to consume as much as heâd like without feeling the debilitating affects of INTOXICATION. once he swallowed the tart liquid, he nodded his head & endeavored to finish the thought that he had started moments prior. â i think your father has a fair point, though. while i am quite the fan of garlic & butter, i canât say that iâm too keen on mushrooms in all dishes. then again, if you ask me what i prefer, itâs definitely all types of proteins ââ steak, chicken, duck, leg of lamb, fish, even eggs ! â
    perhaps that was why his natural physique was incredibly lean ?? that, paired with good genetics, was surely his secret for being able to build muscle fairly easily. nevertheless, gunwoo continued to listen to xuedong speak his mind ; nodding his head in agreement as each topic was breached & elaborated upon. â i think itâs a great observation that a lot of the idols around us arenât necessarily from money, & in a lot of ways, i think thatâs great ! it only goes to show you that most of the talent here in korea are hard workers who CHASED THEIR DREAMS. i know that when i dĂ©buted, many people were convinced that i somehow bought my way into dimensions, & while my parents were able to pull some strings & get me a private audition with them, the rest was up to me. â he replied, nodding his head as he scanned his brain for the memories of long voice lessons to perfect his range. â anyway ââ are you enjoying the night so far, handsome ?? i really am happy that you agreed to come out with me, & itâs been a huge pleasure being able to get to know you on a more personal level, & really, iâd just like to thank you for letting me in... even if itâs not much. â a fond smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, & stared down at his lap to conceal the peculiar blush that painted over his fair complexion. â i know itâs a little soon in our time spent together as we havenât really finished our meals yet, but if youâre interested, iâd love to take you to LOTTE WORLD or EVERLAND either tonight, or some other time soon, if youâd like ?? i think i recall you mentioning in ORIGIN STORY that youâre a fan of amusement parks, right ?? unless, of course, iâm sorely mistaken !! âÂ