I Love This Boy | On Hold

Chapter 3: Push-ups

It was one of the few nights when Han was actually studying at home rather than getting up to mischief with his friends. He never really needed the revision, he had always been a bright kid, but it was still good to actually study every now and then just in case.

Taebin was over, no surprise there. Jun had invited him round for the night since his parents were out on a date which, of course, meant that they could game to their heart's content. The living room TV was much bigger than the one in Jun's room and so, the boys took every opportunity they could to game on the 90-inch flatscreen with full HD and a 4K display.

Hannie was not happy.

Not only were his studies disrupted by their yelling and the noises of the loud TV that boomed up the stairs, but the table would rumble every now and then, shifting the pencil in his hand. Han sighed, looking at the neat writing that now looked more like a scribble, and pulled out his phone.

He pushed his earphones into the audio jack and carefully placed them into his ears. He had small ears and so, the earphones would pop out every now and then if he didn't tuck them in tightly. Once he was sure they were snugly fitted into his ears and were not going to fall out anytime soon, he pressed play.

He continued to work on his studies, scribbling down notes as he read through the textbook. Tapping his pencil along to the beat of the song, the melody flowing into his ears. He began to hum along, stopping to chew on the end of his pencil every now and then. His perfectly white teeth applying light pressure to the pencil between his contrasting scarlet lips.

After another half an hour he gave up, the noise from below was getting worse so he got up from his desk, leaving everything behind except for his phone, and flopped down onto his bed.

He turned the volume up, a poor attempt to block out the disturbance coming from the living room.

It could be worse, he knew. They could have been in the room right next door, bouncing up and down on the bed like the overgrown children they were as they cheered for their victory.

Hannie closed his eyes and imagined himself lying on a beach, somewhere isolated, somewhere away from Taebin.

It was quiet, the gentle breeze blowing through his hair. He opened his eyes, looking up at the night sky as the stars twinkled across the dark, velvety blanket in the air.

Then, it all disappeared.

"Hannie."

With a groan, he pulled his earphones out and sat up, coming face to face with Taebin.

He didn't say a word, no, he simply raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to ask the elder what he wanted.

"Jun sent me for a blanket." The elder smiled, running his hand through his dark brown locks.

The younger sighed, leaning off the edge of his bed to search underneath it, "Here."

Taebin smiled, his gratitude evident on his stupid face. Stupid face. Stupid hair. Stupid everything. Hannie really did hate everything about him. The way he talked so casually as if the two were friends, the way his hair was dyed that horrible dark shade of brown. What was the point of dying it if it was still going to be so close to his natural black? Stupid.

Just his presence alone was frustrating. Although, in all honesty, he'd never really done anything warranting such hostility from the younger boy, and Hannie knew it too. Maybe he was overreacting but after years of putting up with Taebin, he no longer cared.

As the elder left the room Hannie found himself getting up, deciding that now was the time to go downstairs in search of a snack. His stomach growled as he passed his brother's room, the boys inside finally quieting down as the day grew dark.