sicheng's signs ↠ taewin au

eighth.

taeyong.

Just how did he get so good at playing Mario Kart?

It has been an excruciating hour and twenty-seven minutes, to be exact. It's mostly fun, don't get me wrong, but I say it's excruciating since I lost every single damn time. With a loud and exaggerated groan, I plop on Sicheng's bedroom's floor, the console in my hand all sweaty and disgusting. I turn my head over to where Sicheng is sitting, right beside his huge shelf of books, and not once did he ever break a sweat while playing with me.

I pout. 'Do you have any idea how frustrated I feel right now?'

Sicheng grins, and I swear I would've punched him playfully until I got all my frustration out. I would have, with any other guy. But looking now, as I lazily put all my weight onto his cold bedroom's floor, his grin was enough to make me feel lighter.

'One more round?' Before I know it, I was signing to Sicheng yet again. I take a quick peek and see him tilt his head at me, and I just have to huff out a breath in amazement. 'Don't look at me like that. For all we know, I was just letting you win all this time.'

He looks at me for a great amount of time and then he just snickers. Sicheng dares to make fun of me!

'Sure.' Sicheng's eyes are burning again. I stretch around a bit before settling down on a more comfortable position. Sure enough, the pink-haired boy right across me is already scrolling through some maps.

And sure enough... I also lose this time around.

I close my eyes and plop back down to where I was laying before. I feel so physically and mentally exhausted, it's pathetic.

For about two full minutes with my eyes closed, there was no sound whatsoever inside Sicheng's room. His windows have been open the entire time and there's a slight breeze pouring in from the outside. There's also the slightly muffled, on-loop soundtrack of Mario Kart playing on the TV but other than that, I could hear nothing. However, after two minutes I finally hear some shuffling coming towards where I am. I open one eye and see Sicheng's curious face hovering over me.

Jesus, I swear my heart fucking skipped a beat. His face isn't too too close, but it's close enough to let me see the individual specks in his hazel eyes and his long lashes. He's staring at me for god knows what.

"W-what." I say then catch myself before saying anything else after that. I keep forgetting. I have no choice but to avoid his gaze, feeling stupid for speaking and for feeling so self-conscious all of a sudden. 'Why?'

I have to return my gaze back to him to know his response and I feel stupid all over again.

'You okay?' he signs back. The way his eyebrows are knit and his stare unfaltering, I could sense the genuine worry coming from him.

I lightly swat his arm away. 'There's nothing wrong, don't worry about me.'

I get back up in a sitting position but Sicheng is still staring at me. We've sat closer to each other before but inside his room, even when he's more than a few inches away from me, it feels like he's invading me. For some fucking reason.

All he does is stare, though. And all I do is avoid it, again for some fucking reason.

Taeyong, why are you like this again?

Suddenly I feel like leaving his room, but the more I think about it, won't that be just downright rude? It does feel like Sicheng also doesn't know what to say, nor how to handle this situation whatsoever. I feel like this is the first time he's invited a friend over... And inside his room too, might I add.

I mull over my thoughts for a bit when suddenly an idea pops into my head like a freaking bullet.

'Have you ever gone a kilometer away from this house?' I ask him, excitement coming back in waves.

'Sometimes... When we have to go see a doctor or a family member.' he says, distractedly scratching the back of his pink-haired head.

I grin. 'In that case... Do you know the waterfall just right across town?'

He blinks and nods, sticking his bottom lip out a bit. This does something to my chest which I am not going to think about, thank you very much. I bite my lip in anticipation. 'Then. Do you perhaps know how to swim?'