It wasn't even a date. In retrospect, thinking about the entire ordeal felt lame. Joon wasn't the type of a person who would get his hopes up. But something about Cyan told him to get his hopes higher than the sky. 

Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. 

"Pretty sure it doesn't work that way here." Joon said to himself as he looked at the framed quote hanging over his bed. "Aish…" He was frustrated. Over the colour of a shirt. He could pick any random one, wear it, go and have a good dinner and come back. But he couldn't decide which one complimented his skin colour. "Damn I don't even look good," he grumbled, trying to style his hair. 

Joon had never felt those hollow, dreadful butterflies in his stomach. He wanted to see Cyan, but he also wanted to vomit and retch. The poor man hadn't eaten a morsel since morning. He would've been sick if he had. 

________

Cyan's house was a bit different than what Joon had expected. He stood outside the door, silently taking in all the details of how Cyan lived in a middle class apartment and how his door had childish drawings pasted all over. 

It took five minutes for Cyan to open the door. Five minutes felt like five years. In that five minutes, Joon had run his hand in his hair seven times, brushed the lapels of his shirt thrice, had the urge to jump off the bannister twice and even contemplated leaving once. But when the door opened, instead of the face that Joon was expecting to see, he had to lower his eyesight down to see the person who said: 

"Welcome to Seo residence." 

It was tiny, squeaky, and spoken with a tone of dislike. And it was a rather odd raccoon who spoke. A raccoon larger for its size and one that stood on two legs and had human hands. Joon had to blink several times to realise that it was a child dressed in a raccoon onsie. 

"Oh h-hello," Joon said, suddenly sweating more profusely. "Lala, you must be Lala, right?" 

"How do you know my name?" The large raccoon, er… the little child narrowed her eyes. 

"Your father speaks a lot about you." Joon pressed his lips in a thin line. "I'm his friend—" He stopped when he saw the girl tighten her grip on the doorknob. She was vastly different from when Joon had seen her for the first time. Then she seemed so docile. 

"Here's cake. Pineapple. I heard you like it." 

Raccoon stepped outside, gave the box Joon was holding a sniff, then let her hold lax for one second as she yelled, "Appa! Mr. Appa's friend brought me cake! Should I take it?" 

There was a commotion from inside the house, and moments later, Cyan came running out with a spatula in his hand. He was wearing a stained kitchen apron. He smiled as soon as he saw Joon, and told his daughter to let him in. Raccoon made a loud humph, and then stepped aside. 

Joon gulped. Cyan's house was full of his subtle scent. Not necessarily a scent of a particular substance, rather a feeling of sorts. Cyan's house gave the feeling of being loved in  massive amounts. 

"You're here, Kim Joon-ssi," Cyan said with a smile. "I hope you didn't have any trouble." 

"Not at all," Joon said and looked away. He wasn't quite able to contain his feelings, and his excitement. 

"Appa…" Raccoon tugged Cyan's sleeve. 

"Go set it on a plate," Cyan said to his daughter. She dashed off inside without a second thought, the raccoon tail stitched to her onsie fluttering behind her. "And be careful to not break it and cut your hands!" 

"I won't!" 

Joon didn't quite know what to say. He could comment on how cute the Raccoon was, or say how soothing the beige walls of Cyan's apartment looked. They were quite filled up with pictures and haphazard drawings, all of them no doubt made by Lala. The house was small, but it made Joon feel as if it could hold an infinite number of people all at once.

"You can remove your coat over there," Cyan pointed to the coat hanger in the doorway, "Sorry to say that but lunch will take some time." 

"Can I help?" 

Cyan thought for a moment. "Do you know how to make a salad?" 

"Yes." 

"Then I might require some help, come along. The kitchen's here." 

The kitchen wasn't exactly modular, built with precision, nor did it come with an island. It was just two rectangular slabs fitted on the wall edges, and a large oven fitted in one of the lower cabinets. Two pots were kept on the stove, one of them boiling. 

"Cyan-ssi, is today something special?" 

Cyan gave him a confused look. "Not that I think of… why?" 

"Your daughter, er… she seems too happy today," Joon glanced at the child, who was happily playing with action figures, sitting quietly on the sofa. 

"Oh that," Cyan chuckled, "Lala's on her best behavior today. It's because you're here. Otherwise she would have made a huge ruckus." 

"Is it her birthday?" 

"No." Cyan gave Joon a smile, one that he couldn't really decipher. "It's a Sunday. Taekwondo Raccoon part three is airing today. We have a movie premiere." 

"Taekwondo Rac…" Joon suddenly felt immensely stupid. What was he doing? Cyan probably looked at him only like a good friend, nothing else. He trusted him enough to invite him over to his house, and watch a movie with this daughter. "Haha… hah, I have seen the first two parts. My nephew is a fan." 

"The series is actually good, you know?" Cyan's back was turned to Joon, as he started to wash rice. "It's really nice how they teach such good morals in animations. Honestly, animations are better than the dramas on TV." 

Animations. Eating a home cooked meal while sitting and watching a movie on the television, how long had it been since Joon had experienced that? He couldn't quite put a finger on it. His father was always busy, and his mother was always nagging at him. They never watched animations with him. 

Family. It was strange how Joon found a little part of himself at home with those two people, completely unrelated to Joon, yet somehow an oasis for him.