the school festival was, in taeyong's opinion, incredibly childish.
it reminded him of high school, with the many booths and bright, colorful banners. the warm smell of fried food wafted through the night air and tickled at taeyong's nostrils.
remembering that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, he wandered over to the makeshift restaurant a few students had worked on. girls and boys bustled around in server uniforms, taking orders and serving their own classmates.
before he could convince his friends they should stop and eat, taeyong's eyes fell onto a familiar figure.
cho eunjung looked nothing short of beautiful. she was clad in a white skirt and dawned a bright red top, the uniform the girls had chosen for the night.
he suddenly felt the strong desire to approach her, to say hi and to sit down and ask her to eat with him.
"come on, i heard the girl in the palm-reading booth is hot," yuta suddenly exclaimed, throwing an arm over taeyong's shoulder and dragging him in the opposite direction.
taeyong opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by jaehyun shoving him along excitedly. "and afterwards, i want to see the fortune teller!"
taeyong sighed, turning his head to give one last glance at the dark haired girl.
_
the girl at the palm-reading booth turned out to be far from yuta's type, much to his disappointment. the japanese boy must have been her type, however, as she slid him a business card with an unceremonious wink.
the boys visited a few more booths, a fortune telling one who advised jaehyun against visiting the ocean anytime soon, and a speed dating table where johnny and a long-haired senior were coupled and forced to exchange numbers.
eventually, they ran into doyoung who worked his own fish bread booth with another boy. he snuck taeyong several pastries before shooing them off.
"see you tomorrow, yong!" jaehyun waved at the end of the night, the festival was beginning to close up and they were growing tired.
"bye, guys." taeyong grinned, waving his two friends goodbye.
"later, yongster." yuta saluted him and the two boys set off towards the bus stop, leaving a half asleep johnny and taeyong.
"i'm going to hail a taxi," johnny sighed, rubbing at his eyes. "do you need a ride too?"
taeyong shook his head, "i live a few blocks away, dummy," he reminded his friend and johnny released a soft laugh.
"it feels like i haven't slept in days," he yawned and taeyong studied him sympathetically. johnny was interning for a huge business, taeyong couldn't imagine how hard it must be to run around all day.
a taxi turned the corner and taeyong waved it down. it slowed to a stop before them and johnny gave him a grateful nod before climbing inside.
"bye, taeyong. get home safe, okay?" the tall boy muttered, eyes half shut as he leaned against the window of the car.
"you too, hyung." taeyong smiled, waving as the car drove away.
his stomach suddenly growled, as if telling him that the few pastries he'd eaten hadn't done much to satiate his hunger. taeyong stalked over to the nearby convenience store, determined to leave with a full stomach.
he entered, purchased some ramen and kimbap before taking a seat outside. the night air was pleasantly cool, and taeyong began to eat away happily.
he bopped his head in joy at the first proper thing he's eaten since this morning, occasionally pausing to take sips of the cider he'd also bought.
"taeyong?"
he froze at the sound of his name being called and slowly turned to see cho eunjung sitting at the table before him.