Using cold words and a blunt expression to hide all his insecurities, Taehyun finds himself at times believing he's indestructible. An illusion his brain creates to repress all the pain that has ever swum inside his veins. He feels powerful, like an ancient king covered in purple rich clothes, nothing can bring him down because nothing else matters. He's happy, he's unbothered, he's living freely. But that beautiful trick only lasts for a short time, as Taehyun always remembers he's not the strong person everyone thinks he is.
He was born with a great memory that traced the path to becoming almost academically perfect. He graduated from every school he attended with the best grades, won multiple academic awards, received lots of praise from teachers, and made both his parents and older sister proud. But there was one area he was lacking terribly: he couldn't make friends.
Living in a small town, everyone in his school was divided into groups and got along pretty well. But when he tried to approach them, there seemed to be a brick wall between them blocking the communication. He understood that his shy yet bubbly personality wasn't much interesting to other people, but he never fully comprehended why it was a barrier to befriend someone. It was like every person he tried to get close to was made out of sand and every time he grabbed their hands, they would quickly slip through his fingers and disappear in the wind.
Certainly, naive Taehyun never acknowledged that it wasn't his personality that was failing, but the people in his school. Most of the students were envious of him, ones because of his looks, the others because of his grades, and that ultimately made everything turn upside down for him. They would take the opportunity of being in a small school to spread rumors about the inoffensive boy, so being alone was inevitable for him. He would walk to school alone, have lunch all by himself, spend his breaks inside the classroom and no one would dare to talk to him...
Until one day, a transferred boy appeared.
His seat was right in front of Taehyun's and he always refused to play with the others, sticking with a random book inside the classroom during breaks. Taehyun never had someone to make him company inside that lonely classroom so he quickly got curious about the new boy. The blonde would often stare at the back of his head for a long time, wondering what kind of book he was reading and what kind of voice he used inside his mind while assimilating the sentences. Days passed and Taehyun would always spend his break time staring at him, sometimes counting the moles on his neck and connecting them with his eyes, forming non-existent constellations.
However, after two weeks, the new boy suddenly turned around for the first time.
Hi, Taehyun still recalls his beautiful teeth while he smiled at him. Hi, he replied, feeling his heartbeat louder than ever. And starting on that day a new friendship was born. They would always stay inside the classroom during breaks, so no one really knew about their secret friendship, and consequently, no one could judge or spread any negative word about them. The boy whose name was Sunghoon would always visit Taehyun's house after school and they would chat in his room for hours about the most trivial things.
In Sunghoon's presence, Taehyun could be himself, so he would rant about the tv shows and bands he liked so much and Sunghoon would always listen, genuinely entertained by Taehyun's exciting and bright personality. The younger also felt safe around Taehyun so he always mentioned his love for ice skating and how he desired to become a professional in the future. And Taehyun would always smile and look at his friend with big shiny eyes, imagining the younger boy performing on national tv while Taehyun watched him from the crowd.
But sometimes a dark future emerges from happiness and Taehyun could not escape it when suddenly one day Sunghoon started to ignore him. He tried to ask him what was wrong so many times, if something had happened to him or if he just wasn't feeling well, but all he received was a painful silence. And soon Sunghoon stopped staying inside the classroom during breaks and Taehyun's room became so empty without their laughs floating in the air.
After some time, he stopped trying to understand what was wrong. He stopped trying to talk to Sunghoon and watched as the younger's shoulders got lighter as if the blonde boy was a burden. Maybe I am, Taehyun thinks to himself while his eyes traced the same constellations on the younger's neck during classes. Maybe I am a burden.
Without noticing, he started to change. He wasn't the same boy anymore, his bubbly and smiley personality was long gone and all that was left was the bitter reality of being the one that no one want to deal with. He became less interested in his surroundings, a stern, and reserved person and every time he looked at the back of his ex-friend's head he would feel numb. And his parents would have noticed it if they were more present in his life, but that wasn't the case. So they stayed oblivious to Taehyun's unhappy state, as he was still having the best grades and maintained his first place on being the best student in his whole school.
And thank god that happened in his last year of high school because he wouldn't be able to drag another year of the same lonely pain. So when he was admitted to Seoul University he didn't think twice before packing his things and running to his sister that had a fixed job in the city. He didn't think twice before turning his back away from all those heartless students whose heads were as empty as void. And he surely didn't think twice before disappearing from Sunghoon's sight, the last boy to ever know Taehyun's former friendly and interesting side.
I guess that sometimes bad things happen in small towns and it is best to leave them behind and search for happiness in a bigger place.
But as optimistic as it sounds, Taehyun was now going through a mental crisis as he was standing still in front of Tao's Mocha, his trembling hand holding the door handle like his life depended on it.
"It's now or never..." He whispers to himself after a while and slowly opens the coffee shop's door.
The pink-haired boy was instantly embraced by the familiar cozy atmosphere and the coffee aroma that danced around every table. The place wasn't as full as it normally was, as the clock pointed to ten pm and people had to work the next day. But it was still crowded with young adults having relaxing dates and friends celebrating their good grades on their finals. However, Taehyun didn't care for any of them, as his mind was full of thoughts about the tall figure with black hair working behind the counter.
He takes a deep breath and starts walking toward him in slow steps. Beomgyu was currently facing the coffee machines, preparing what Taehyun could tell to be a frappuccino. The younger takes another deep breath, waiting for Beomgyu to turn around, his head becoming dizzy. Will he be surprised to see him? Happy? Angry?
Beomgyu had heard the bell ring two minutes ago and was conscious a client was standing in line, but the most recent table had ordered five drinks and he was trying his best to make them all at the same time.
"One minute, please!" He tiredly says and Taehyun feels his heart skip a beat when he hears the familiar voice he used to listen to every night before falling asleep.
The black-haired boy using a brownish uniform finishes the last drink in less than thirty seconds and turns around to place it on the table near the others. But when his eyes meet the person in front of him waiting in line, he loses balance and almost drops the drink, performing a little bit of juggling to prevent the liquid from following to the ground. Taehyun finds his reaction very cute but doesn't express any emotion as he was still nervous as hell about this sudden encounter. Beomgyu's eyes were wide open and he was breathing heavily after the little scare he had with the frappuccino. He looked at Taehyun with fear in his eyes and the blonde felt his heart aching a bit thinking he wasn't welcomed in the older's life.
Beomgyu was so immersed in his thoughts he didn't notice Chaeryoung coming from behind him to grab the five drinks he just made, his eyes connected with Taehyun's like magnets. The pink-haired boy could see that the taller was very tired, he had bags under his eyes, was very pale and his arms were tiredly resting on top of the counter. Immediately after that observation, Taehyun gets an anxious feeling in his gut and extends his hand to touch Beomgyu's and ask if he was alright. But as soon as that thought hits him, he takes his hand back to his chest, afraid that Beomgyu was also made of sand and would disappear forever like the others.
"What's your order, sir?" Beomgyu asks, with not much hope in his small voice as he was almost sure Taehyun had recognized him.
"Your hair is pretty..." Taehyun says the first sentence that crosses his mind and almost slaps himself in the face for saying such an embarrassing thing.
However, Beomgyu just stays silent, his sad eyes connecting with Taehyun's once again and it was like the whole world had stopped. Everything was resumed to the two of them standing in front of each other and surrounded by the distorted voices of the customers that chatted happily in the distance. Only they mattered right now and Beomgyu was like a puzzle full of unsolved questions. And Taehyun finds himself incapable of deciphering what was going on inside the older's head.
"Would you like a menu?" The black-haired boy tries again but Taehyun just shakes his head.
"Beomgyu we have to talk." Taehyun wishes the words had come out nicer "What time does your shift end?"
Beomgyu doesn't answer right away. Instead, he bites his lip and roams his eyes around his surroundings, clearly avoiding the younger's strong gaze. Taehyun observes everything with patience and tries to calm his nerves down, as everything he wanted to do right now was to hug him and tell him that he cared about him and that whatever happened was going to get fixed and he was going to be alright. But he couldn't, because everything he touched seemed to instantly break and he was very scared to lose him forever.
"At midnight..." He says quietly after some time and Taehyun nods his head "It's too late, you should go home..."
"No! I'll wait for you." Taehyun interrupts "An americano please."
Beomgyu takes a look at his face one last time before turning around and starting to prepare the drink. Taehyun sees his queue to walk away to the nearest table and sit on the comfy pink chair, his eyes never looking away from the taller's figure. He starts to think about what he was going to say to him once he finished his shift. Hi, I don't want to lose you so please don't stop being my friend. Taehyun frenetically shakes his head. Hi, I don't know what happened but can you promise you won't leave me? Taehyun bites his lip in a nervous matter. Hi, I like you a lot, please forgive whatever I did and don't disappear...
And there he stays, sitting down on the chair while his mind overreacts to Beomgyu's possible answers to his stupid questions. And before he knows it, one hour had passed and almost every customer had left the place, leaving Taehyun surrounded by silence while contemplating a working Beomgyu behind the counter. The older hadn't looked at him once and Taehyun didn't know what it meant. Did he hate him? Was Taehyun bothering him? Did he want him to leave?
I need to wash my face, Taehyun thinks to himself and makes his way to the surprisingly clean bathroom. When he gets near the sink, he activates the automatic tab and doesn't think twice before splashing water all over his face. It was currently eleven pm and Taehyun was glad he remembered to tell his sister he would be out for a very long time, even though he had to force himself to tell her a little white lie because according to the text he sent her hours ago, he was having the time of his life at this friend's party that didn't even exist. And he certainly wasn't having fun right now. Taking one last look at himself in the mirror, Taehyun leaves the bathroom, much fresher than before. But when he looks at the counter, there's no sign of Beomgyu.
"Excuse me..." Taehyun quickly calls Chaeryoung that was busy with cleaning the tables. "Where did Beomgyu go?"
The red-haired girl furrows her brow "He left. I'm about to close this place anyway, I was actually waiting for you to get out of the bathroom..."
"Wait, he left? When?" Taehyun asks anxiously, his heart beating like crazy.
"Just now. The shop closes around eleven pm and his shift was over hours ago. I didn't know what was he still doing here..." She says while wiping the dirt on the table.
Shit, what do I do now?
Taehyun could perfectly leave and come back tomorrow, taking the risk of never seeing Beomgyu again as the older might quit his job. Or the younger could just leave the ravenette alone, accepting the fact that he didn't want to talk to him anymore for some reason. Or he could just wait for Beomgyu to reach out to him even if that meant waiting for eternity.
But Taehyun wasn't going to turn his back away from Beomgyu. No, that was totally out of the question. He did that to many people in the past and he felt great about it, but this time was different, Beomgyu was different. There was definitely something fishy going on and he had to at least try to help him. I won't let him go!
"Did you see what direction he went?" Taehyun quickly asks her.
"Left." Chaeryoung points to the door. "He left one minute ago, you can still catch him if you run..."
She doesn't get to finish her sentence because Taehyun is already running out of the building and following Beomgyu's distant silhouette down the street.
To be continued...
NOTE :
I feel like I bored the hell out of you guys with this chapter but don't worry, the next one will have more communication between them (and fluff of course). And then we'll be back to funny chats etc because that's the main reason most of you people are here, to read funny things, not boring paragraphs :')
I just felt like I need to show both the funny and the more realistic side of each character because the story will be richer this way (in my opinion).
Anyway, I'm not sure if you guys liked the question thingy but i'll do it again because I like to see your answers hihihi
Which country are you from?