perhaps taeil would rather not eat, but with doyoung just being there, it made him feel bad for that urge and so, he ate the breakfast doyoung had brought for him.
"eating is important," doyoung started as he watched the other eat, as if he was scolding a child. "you can't just go around and skip all three meals like that."
"hm," taeil manages to force himself to eat one last bite for doyoung's sake.
doyoung is quick to catch how he suddenly left the rest of the remaining eggs alone and reaches out a hand to grab taeil's chopsticks just before he can put them down. he then picks up a small piece of the egg and holds it up to taeil's mouth.
"eat," he says simply, his smile returning — it's an encouraging one. taeil hesitates but sucks it up and eats it. he keeps doing it until the of rest meal is long gone and class had already been started a few minutes ago. but doyoung doesn't seem to have any intention of leaving his flat anytime soon.
"i ate ice cream yesterday," taeil brings up as that extremely recent memory comes to mind as doyoung starts discussing ideas for what they could get for lunch.
"and nothing else," doyoung concludes. "ice cream isn't a proper meal. anyways, there's this sandwich place i really like."
"oh," taeil mumbled.
"i reckon you'll like it," doyoung went on. his gaze then softens at taeil's sad look. "listen, i'm skipping school for you. let's make this worthwhile."
"oh wait! you are skipping school! you shouldn't be because of me," taeil bursts out.
"oh, don't take the moral high ground," doyoung says jokingly. "so are you."
"i called in sick today, so not technically," taeil says before realisation hits him. "well, i skipped yesterday — "
"exactly my point," doyoung just beams even brighter. "now, what do you do here? like, video games, reading...."
"i watch movies and listen to music," taeil mutters.
"that's fun," doyoung says eagerly. "what about... drawing?"
"i'm not an artist," taeil reminds him. "you are."
"i can teach you," doyoung says happily.
taeil gives in as his frown changes into a weak smile. "oh, alright."
"okay, we need paper," doyoung claps his hands together. "where — ?"
"on my desk," taeil said. "in my bedroom."
"alright!" doyoung got to his feet and moved away from the small dining table. he walks past the small living room area and finds two doors. he peeks through the only one that was just barely open and came upon his intended destination — taeil's bedroom.
it wasn't "out there" in a sense. it was just like any other bedroom. his bed wasn't made, but his desk was well organised, complete with a closed laptop, a collection of notebooks placed in a small box along with a huge, white binder, and a stack of song lyrics.
doyoung opened the pencil box and found that clean and organised too. he honestly envied taeil on that aspect — he was a neat, orderly person. he couldn't find sheets of paper, so he settled on ripping two pieces out of one of taeil's many coloured notebooks and grabbed two pencils for the both of them.
then, he returned to the kitchen and dining area, placing one one sheet of lined paper in front of taeil along with a yellow number two pencil.
"so," doyoung says cheerfully as he sits down again. "what can you draw?"
"nothing but stick figures," taeil mumbles, quickly drawing something down on his paper before turning it around and showing doyoung — he wasn't wrong. it was just a stick figure. a small one at that.
"amazing," doyoung finds himself trying to hold back a laugh. "simply a masterpiece."
"hold on! i'll make it look like you," taeil says quickly before adding to his mediocre drawing. he draws black hair onto the stick figure's head before adding two lines for eyes and a simple smile. to finish it off, he just has to add bunny ears. "there. looks just like you."
now doyoung does laugh at what was presented to him. "i see no difference. now let me draw you again."
"okay," taeil finds real amusement in what they're doing. "make me look sexy."
"oh, i'll make you look sexy all right," doyoung says before taking his sweet time to draw what he said he would. taeil eventually convinces himself that doyoung was actually going to draw him accurately for a third time but when he finally sees his finished product, it definitely wasn't what he was expecting.
a picture of a moon. a detailed one at that.
"because, y'know, moon taeil," doyoung grinned. "i'm a comedic genius."
taeil doesn't laugh either but genuinely smiles. "my friends call me moony. this is nothing new."
"moony?" doyoung echos and taeil nods. "that's cute. i'm now calling you that along with illie."
"that's fine," taeil says. his mood had definitely lifted from the dumps where it once was. "so, i'm still calling you dodo and... bunny."
"everyone calls me bunny," doyoung retorted.
"hm..." taeil's voice trails off. the nickname youngie came to his mind, but it just made him think of youngchul. he settles for: "doie. there. dodo and doie."
"i approve of those because they're cute," doyoung smiles before realisation washes over his face. "oh! i'm supposed to teach you how to draw!"
"oh yeah, you're supposed to," taeil mutters.
"er — " doyoung chuckles. "i'm a horrible teacher, by the way. just keep that in mind."
"i'm sure you can't be that bad," taeil says encouragingly and it manages to make doyoung blush.
"yeah, well, i hope i guess," he sputters. "so, let's draw a simple landscape."
he tries his best to instruct taeil to draw mountains and grass along with several trees, a lake, and to finish off, the sun along with a few clouds. the singer tries but doesn't fall short of failing to recreate what the artist had drawn.
"it's good," doyoung says encouragingly. he just wants to see that same cheshire cat-like smile on taeil's face. it appears like he wanted.
they keep going, laughing at whatever they managed to come up with their minds and pencils, and soon lunch rolls around. they do end up going to that sandwich place doyoung had mentioned earlier. turns out, taeil did end up liking it.
they end up spending the rest of the day watching dramas and doyoung helping taeil practice his new songs from chorus. taeil can see why doyoung would've wanted to do chorus instead of art as he watches the other sing the lyrics on the paper he held in his hands.
"you're a natural," taeil breathes and doyoung goes red in the face. he's got the voice of an angel.
"y-yeah, i guess so," doyoung's sputtering again from being flustered, but taeil doesn't seem to question how his compliment made the other react. "i practice every now and then."
"i can tell," taeil says kindly. "it would be nice to have you be apart of the school chorus."
"yeah, but i chose art, well, my parents chose it for me," doyoung shook his head, his cheeks still tomato red. "anyways...."
taeil hears his stomach start to rumble, but doyoung comments on it, "ooh. it's dinnertime."
what they ended up eating was a huge snd obvious improvement over the nothing taeil had eaten for dinner on thursday. taeil ends up taking a picture of the other, and doyoung suggests he should finally post something and use that photo.
taeil thinks it's a good idea and does so, adding the caption: eating out with a friend. he makes sure to tag doyoung's account before pressing the post button.
taeil then puts his phone down and leaves it alone for the rest of their time together, too distracted by a certain kim doyoung. everything appears almost completely wiped clean but for the remaining food stains, their happy voices filling the air.
"i don't think i'll ever like her class," doyoung was saying. "she takes, like, ages to say one word."
"she's probably part tortoise," taeil jokes and it wins a laugh out of doyoung.
"at this point, i'm bound to believe it," doyoung retorts. his eyes turn towards the window, seeing the setting sun. "oh, it's getting late, isn't it?"
"yeah," taeil says softly. the day does fly past when you're having fun.
"hm, okay, i'll pay," doyoung basically announces to taeil. "my treat."
"i got half," taeil says quickly but doyoung turns that down immediately and pays himself anyways.
they exit the restaurant side by side, pausing a few yards away from the entrance doors as a couple walks past them to get inside. doyoung turns his head to face taeil, "i'll drive you home."
"you've done enough for me, doie," taeil says with a smile. "i'll take a bus. you go on home."
"but illie," doyoung starts. "it's much quicker if i drive you."
"it's fine," taeil says, realising he says those two words a lot. "a bus works just as well."
"alright," doyoung gives off. "good night. sleep well, illie."
"same to you, doie," taeil nudges him with his shoulder. "i'll message you when i get back home, okay?"
"i like the sound of that," doyoung grins. their eyes meet for a few moments in silence before they awkwardly exchange more goodbyes and finally part.
by the time taeil gets off the bus and enters his flat, he immediately goes to instagram to tell doyoung that he got back home safely, and sees the comment doyoung had left on his post along with all the likes from his followers.
had fun today <3
that brings a smile onto taeil's face before he goes to message him, but doyoung beats him as usual.
get back home safe?
yep
good
thats good
i forgot to tell you
thanks for everything
i feel loads better than before lol
great to hear :D
i wanna do this again sometime
y'know
spending time together
as friends lol
yeah
same here
oh yeah!
i left you something in your room when i went to get your lyric papers
what?
see for yourself illie
taeil does just that, peering into his bedroom. it's a folded paper he swore he's never seen there before. he puts his phone aside to pick it up and see what it was — a picture of a rabbit.
he did say he wanted to give it to him.