straight // taegyu

sixteen

eric left the house after a few hours, and mrs kang was still gushing at how cute eric was, which was honestly annoying to beomgyu, since he suddenly had a hidden opinion about the other senior. beomgyu and taehyun settled in taehyun's room after bidding goodnight to the middle-aged woman.

"so what's your problem with eric? you've been giving him dirty looks all evening," taehyun said as he opened his closet to get something to sleep in. "you have to accept that he's my boyfriend now, and it might be that way for a while."

"it won't," beomgyu said, crossing his arms. "eric doesn't plan on dating you for long."

taehyun scoffed. "listen, beom — stop trying to sabotage every relationship i'm in. every time i'm happily in a relationship, you find a way to ruin it."

"i'm looking out for you," beomgyu argued. "eric might just be worse than yeonjun, mate. he… he doesn't love you. he just doesn't."

"beomgyu, just stop," taehyun almost yelled, but rather spoke harshly. "i don't care about what you have to say about eric. the one time i really, genuinely like someone, you obviously have to step in. stop it, it's getting really annoying."

"i didn't mean to step in this time — i was going to let you date eric because he's really not that bad of a guy — but this is a mistake, taehyun," beomgyu said quickly. "i overheard heejun and eric talking about you. eric was dared to ask you out. even if he does really like you in the long run, it's all a lie. he's planning to drop you by next week. taehyun, you need t—"

"no."

"no? taehyun, you n—"

"beomgyu, shut up," taehyun snapped. "i don't care. i love eric — and i don't want you seperating us, no matter how imperfect he is."

"taehyun, he's going to hurt you," beomgyu said flatly with a warning tone. "i'm your best friend. i want to protect you. i want what's best for you, tae. you love too easily and you break apart too easily. i just want to make sure you end up happy and not with a broken heart."

"you're breaking my heart by doing this."

"doing what?"

"you're hurting me by falling in love with jiyeong!"

and silence ensued. taehyun's eyes widened and beomgyu looked at him in confusion. taehyun bit his lips as tears formed in his eyes.

"you're hurting me by loving her," he said softly. "y-you're in love with another girl, and… i don't want that. jiyeong is great — she's perfect for you, you two would make a great couple. but you want me to be happy when… you're hurting me by being in love with her."

beomgyu was quiet for a bit, his eyes flickering to the ground before he looked at taehyun with a mild frown. "why does it hurt you?"

taehyun couldn't say it. he felt a stab at his heart as he tried to say it. that stab of anxiety made his tongue cut short of words and he stayed quiet. tears fell down his cheeks and he wiped his eyes.

"because i'm in love with you, beomgyu."