"Are you sure hanging out with this dude is a good idea? I had heard he was funny but I didn't know he was funny in the wrong way." Kai said, munching on a waffle he had gotten from the cafe.
"I honestly don't know. I'm starting to wish I never ran into him in the first place. But to be honest I don't really mind his company. I think he may have a screw or two lose but otherwise he's quite nice." Taehyun answered, putting his hoodie on and leaned down to take a bite of Kai's waffle.
Kai gave a thoughtful hum in response. "Well, either way, I'm happy for both of you. Just please don't get into trouble."
Taehyun laughed.
"Considering my reputation, I doubt the teachers would actually believe anything is my fault at this point."
Kai cracked a smile at that. He was right about that for sure. Taehyun was the teacher's little angel. Submitting all his work on time and always answering the professors.
"Anyway, I'm going down for my walk now. I'll be back in an hour or so. Try not to fuck up until then." Taehyun said, pocketing his phone, earning a playful punch from Kai. "The kitchen is off limits, Kai. If you invite Jake or Jay over, only they're allowed into the kitchen.
"Okay mom. Leave already." Kai said, shaking his head with a laugh, pushing Taehyun out of the dorms and closing the door.
Taehyun sighed and made his way down, plugging in his earphones and walking down the dorms.
He decided to visit the C dorm area this time, after all he'd never been there and now he even had a friend in there so why not. He'd have more of an area to walk around in anyway. Nodding his head to the music, he made his way two buildings to the C dorm. It wasn't as different from his own dorm. It did have many more plants around and also a couple of benches.
There was no one out here so he decided to hum to the song as he walked. Passing flower bushes and trees, with the cold night breeze tickling his face, his mood automatically uplifted by a great amount.
As he continued walking, he spotted someone familiar on one of the benches in the corner. Judging by the long black hair, he was certain it was Beomgyu. His eyes lit up, after all finding someone he knew here was even more exciting for him.
He removed his earphones and ran over to the boy, calling out his name.
"Beomgyu! I didn't expect to see here this late." Taehyun said, stopping and taking a seat beside him, smiling.
Beomgyu turned towards him returning the greeting with a big smile but Taehyun's expression immediately changed.
"What's wrong?!" He asked, eyebrows furrowing.
Beomgyu looked confused. "What?"
"Why are you crying?"
"Oh. Just another nightmare hehe." Beomgyu said, wiping the stream of tears off his face.
Taehyun was so confused. Beomgyu greeted him with a stable voice and cheerful face but his red rimmed eyes said otherwise. He remembered the boy mentioning a nightmare 2 nights ago when they were texting, brushing it off with carefreeness again.
"Are you really okay? Do you want me to take you to the dorms?" he asked, Beomgyu's smile playing no effect on him at all.
"No no don't worry, tears are temporary but swag is permanent." Beomgyu said, smirking.
Taehyun brought his hand up to massage his forehead. This boy was getting on every single nerve he had in his body at this point. He looked back up at Beomgyu and sighed at his smile.
"Do you wanna join me on a walk?" He asked.
"Of course! Anything for princess."
Taehyun was so close to smacking this guy but he held himself back.
It was 10.30 in the night as both boys strolled along the campus. They didn't speak for the first couple minutes.
"This place reminds me of my hometown." Taehyun said, inhaling the scent of the flowers blooming on the bushes at the side. "My house has the same flowers around the yard." Taehyun said, reaching out to touch one.
"Really? Do you have a lot of plants in your yard?"
"I do! My mom and sister both love gardening and my dad is happy to supply them with whatever they wish for." Taehyun said, smiling as he remembered his family.
"Woah, that sounds like fun. I wish I could see them too."
"My family or my garden?"
"Yes."
Taehyun laughed. "You should come over on our next vacation then"
Beomgyu raised his eyebrows. "Making me meet the parents already? We haven't even exchanged rings yet princess."
Taehyun groaned. "You know I didn't mean it like that."
"Hmm, do I?"
Beomgyu earned a punch on his arm for that and laughed.
"Tell me more about them. What's your family like?" he asked, continuing to walk as Taehyun stepped away from the bushes.
"Oh um, they're really fun to be around. My sister studies medicine and anytime there's any problem in the family, she can easily take care of it. Mom and Dad are really happy at home. Whenever I visit they are all overjoyed and always make sure to make my favorite food."
"I really miss them." Taehyun said, wiping the corners of his eyes.
Beomgyu smiled, caressing Taehyun's head. "Let's go meet them during the holidays then."
Taehyun's eyes lit up. "Of course!"
He'd known Beomgyu for four days now, but somehow felt a sense of comfort around the boy already. He didn't feel any kind of anxiety around him either, smiling automatically at the boy's random jokes until they turned dark.
"Looks like I'll have to stay alive until vacations then." Beomgyu said, shaking his head.
Taehyun huffed, "Damn right you have to."
They both laughed.
That still didn't douse Taehyun's concerns at all. They laughed and joked of course but that didn't get rid of the fact that all 3 times they had met, Taehyun had found Beomgyu either in distress or trying to hurt himself in some way.
"Something on your mind princess?" Beomgyu asked.
"Just wondering about things. By the way how about your family? What are they like?" Taehyun asked, brushing his hair back.
Beomgyu's smile faltered.
"Well, they were nice...really nice."
"...were?"
"Yeah."
Taehyun blinked in confuson.
"Where are they now?"
Beomgyu laughed. Somehow it sounded hollower than his other laughs.
"Dead of course. What do you think were refers to?"
Taehyun's eyes widened, as he processed the information, meanwhile Beomgyu's expression remained unchanged. As if he had just mentioned something as casual as a drink flavor.
"Wait...I'm sorry for bringing them up. I had no idea." he said slowly, a guilty look crossing his face.
Beomgyu shrugged. "You couldn't have known anyway, don't worry about it~"
Taehyun pouted.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to them?"
"Who? Mom and dad?"
Taehyun nodded.
Beomgyu clicked his tongue. "That's a story for some other day princess. Right now I've gotta get back to my dorm before Yeonjun hyung starts blowing up my phone." He laughed, checking the time on his phone.
Taehyun didn't look convinced enough but either way he decided to brush the topic off. It was getting late anyway and his hour was almost up.
"Alright then. This was fun by the way." he said, pulling his hoodie over his head.
Beomgyu nodded looking genuinely happy. Taehyun loved seeing those sleepy eyes light up with happiness. It made Beomgyu look more alive, if that made sense.
"We should walk together more often then."
Taehyun agreed with him.
"I'll text you later then! I need to go as well, I don't know if my kitchen is on fire or not yet" he said, worriedly looking towards his dorm.
Beomgyu raised an eyebrow in question before coming to realisation.
"Oh, Huening Kai."
Taehyun snickered. "Glad you understood that fast."
Beomgyu laughed, patting him on the back.
Both boys waved goodbye to each other walking towards their respective dorms.
Meet Taehyun's family huh. Sounded like Taehyun really was set on keeping him alive.