It's been over a week since they've seen each other. Precisely ten days since Tin took Can to the fun fair. Ten days since they had a moment. Ten days since Tin almost kissed a boy. Boy who was just two years older than him yet he sometimes looked and acted much younger. Tin wasn't worried that Can would disappear as there was just as much shouting and noise coming from downstairs as usual, if not more. Wednesday evening rolled up and Tin finally finished his French essay after hours and hours of bending his back over the desk and scribbling the sentences word by word, silently cursing the professor who wouldn't let them do it online. Instead he had to write on a paper in Latin alphabet and his handwriting looked like that of a first grader, and cursive was even worse. Still, he managed to complete the thirty assigned pages two days before it was due and despite it being late evening, Tin decided to treat himself.
Just as he left his apartment he heard a distinct voice about some curse words just beneath his feet followed by slamming the door and footsteps fading away. He quickly run to the staircase and stomped down just in time for Can to open the door, nearly bumping into him. "Fuck, move out of the-oh. It's you." Can quickly glanced at him before continuing down the stairs with hands in his pockets and head tilted down. "Can, wait! Where are you going?" Tin swiftly followed, but only managed to catch up at the ground floor. "Out." "Where?" "Why the fuck should I tell you? Just move." Can demanded when Tin blocked the way, not letting Can to open the door and leave the fire escape. "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me."
It took Can a silent moment of staring at the ground before he finally looked up and Tin saw how bloodshot his eyes were, as if he was crying for hours on end. "What...what happened?" Tin gasped, gently touching Can's face. He felt the tacky remains of tears on his finger tips and promptly moved his hand away. He didn't expect Can to lean against him and his arms fell down his sides, the shock rendering Tin speechless. "I'm upset. Can you comfort me, Mr. Rich kid?" Can chuckled as he wrapped his slim arms around Tin's neck and leaned forward for a kiss that Tin skilfully dodged. "Don't, just talk-" "I don't wanna talk. You can just comfort me like this." Before Tin could even realise what was happening, Can was already unzipping his jeans, trying to stuff his hand down the younger guy's pants. He was stopped by two hands firmly pushing him away, so hard that his back hit the opposite wall and he coughed in pain.
Tin zipped up his jeans and in panic run out of the door, leaving Can wheezing in the staircase. It wasn't until several hours later that Tin returned to the building with grocery bag in his arms, his mood finally lifted after that crazy encounter earlier. As a treat for finishing his essay Tin decided to celebrate with a cake, making this his official cheat day after a month of no sweets dieting and he just couldn't wait to dig in. As if fate had different plans for him, or the universe was fucking with him, his excitement was short lived when he got back to his floor and was greeted by a scene he's experienced once before. Can was sitting on the doormat, leaning against Tin's door, this time with a liquor bottle in hand. "Heeeey, you kept me waiting." Can scrambled to his feet and knocked on the door.
Tin pushed him aside. He unlocked the door and got inside as quickly as he could, slamming the door behind him and locking it with the chain. There was some knocking and drunken slurring that Tin couldn't decipher through the closed door, but by the loud thud against the wood he figured Can probably sat back down again with his back against the door. Tin sorted the groceries first before opening the box and placing nicely frosted cake onto the table. His phone buzzed and Tin accepted the video call. Pete smiled at him through the screen. "Sorry I missed your text earlier, what's going on?"
Tin sighed as he explained the situation that happened earlier and how it freaked him out, especially when Can tried to make a move on him. He didn't mention the connection between Can and Ae, he didn't even say the name, but he needed someone to talk about this who he knew wouldn't judge him. Tin also mentioned the day at the fair, how he actually had fun hanging out with Can, even how they held hands. Tin knew Pete was the best person to talk about this, not just because they're best friends, but also because Pete was gay and knew something about feelings between two boys. Not that Tin has any; he attributed his heartbeat quickening when Can made a move to a nonexistent arrhythmia
"Thanks for listening to me, I just wish I knew how to deal with-" Hueeeghh! "Wow, did you get a sea lion or something?" Pete laughed when a strange retching noise came from Tin side. "Uh, it's probably him, he was sitting behind my door just a moment ago." Tin rolled his eyes when another weird sound erupted from behind the door. "Sounds like he's throwing up on your door mat, you should check it out." Pete urged him and Tin reluctantly opened the door, frowning at the sight. "I'll text you later." He said, tapping the red button to hang up before he stepped it to assess the situation. Luckily there was no vomit on the ground or his doormat, but Can's hoodie was stained with a huge spill which was mostly just liquid. Tin silently thanked gods that it wasn't chunky. With a great displeasure he grabbed Can by the hood and dragged him backwards into his bathroom where he roughly threw him into the bathtub and turned the shower on.
"Haha, I knew you like me." Can hiccuped. The shower soaked his clothes through and through while Tin just stared at him, unsure what to do next. In the end he just left Can in the bathroom while he returned to the front door and picked up what was left; Can's shoe, phone, and the empty liquor bottle. It was some cheap label whiskey but it still had quite high percentage, and if Can drank it all in one go there was no surprise he threw it up. Tin closed the door and took a peek into the bathroom where Can was still under the shower, crouched like a Gollum. 'You're gonna be Doctor, you can't be squeamish about stuff like this.' He told himself, rolling up his sleeves as he mentally prepared to help Can.
"I-" "Don't speak." Tin cut him off as he pulled the hoodie off of Can together with a blue tank top that did nothing to cover him. Then it was time for the belt and jeans which with their intricate buttons gave him an awkward struggle, but Tin managed to take it all off with the underwear while keeping his eyes fixed on the wall behind Can. After some more awkward fumbling with a sponge and soap he managed to somewhat coarse Can to wash himself while he worked on his hair, scrubbing it with shampoo. They didn't exchange a single word until the moment when Tin stood up and handed him a bathrobe. "Can I stay here tonight?" Tin shrugged. "Even if I say no you won't listen, so why ask in the first place? I'll get you some clothes; come out when you're ready."
Tin shoved the clothes into the bathroom without looking, because one look at Can was already enough. As much as he didn't want to peek, Tin finally saw the entirety of Can's lower half tattoo; a splendid display of flowers and gears interlocked, decorating his lower abdomen and hip. He also noticed there was less bruises this time around, definitely none on the face or body, but still several on his legs. When Can finally wobbled out of the bathroom in a shirt too big for him, Tin was sitting in the living room with cake on his lap, digging a spoon straight through the middle. He was grumpily texting Pete about the situation, still somewhat puzzled by it. Can sat beside him and a waft of menthol hit Tin in the face. Mouthwash. Damn, did he drink the entire thing too?
"I haven't seen you for ten days." Tin muttered as he spooned the cake into his mouth. Can sighed. There was no excuse for his absence other than he just simply didn't want to meet Tin. They were better off as strangers he thought. "I heard you fighting downstairs but...thinking about checking up on you felt weird." Tin moved the cake onto Can's lap and thrusted the spoon into his little hand. Can hiccuped. "I hate how good of a person you are. You're kind to someone like me, even now. You should be a bit of a jerk, so people like me wouldn't use you so much." "Oh, so you got some self awareness; cool. Eat and then go to sleep, we can talk in the morning." Tin stood up, patting Can on the head. His hair was still slightly damp so Tin picked up a towel and begun to rub his hair with it, just like he's done to Phupha so many times before. Can closed his eyes.
"Why are you still being nice to me?" He asked. Tin's hands slowed their motion as the boy tried to think of what to say. "I don't really know. I guess I still believe everyone deserves a chance for good life. My parents raised me to be kind and to help the less fortunate." "So basically you pity me." Can played with the hem of the T-shirt that covered half his thighs. He hated when people did this, when they treated him as some poor baby. First it happened when his skin showed signs of physical abuse from his father, then when his mother died. "That's not it! Well, maybe a little, but mostly it's just...I think deep down you're not a bad person, even though so many things tell me I should associate with you." Tin sighed. He finished drying Can's hair and placed the damp towel over the radiator before returning back behind the sofa. His hands cupped Can's cheeks and he tilted the older boy's head back, their eyes meeting. "Eat some of the cake. I'm going to bed, I have an early class tomorrow. Goodnight."
When the bedroom door closed Can finally snapped out of it and returned back to reality. When Tin touched his face Can felt his cheeks flushed, his skin was hot to the touch and he knew it wasn't just the alcohol still circulating in his system. Tin's hands were big and warm, they held him tenderly, and Can briefly imagined what it would feel like if they touched him somewhere else. A wave of shame flushed over him as he recalled the morning and his attack on Tin's crotch; what did he even try to do? Get Tin to fuck him? After Tin left him on the staircase, Can picked himself up and went to visit his favourite bar in the district he frequented for a hook up and found himself someone to comfort him. It was never too hard for Can to score someone, because despite his bad boy look he still was quite cute, especially in the eyes of older men.
With a huff Can finished half the cake and relaxed on the sofa for an hour, trying to sober up just a little more before finally switching off the light and joining Tin in the bedroom.
As he crawled onto the bed he found Tin already fast asleep, one arm wrapped around a bolster pillow while the other was under his head. Can carefully fixed the duvet that covered only third of Tin's body before he shuffled himself under it too and laid on his side, his back turned to the other person. Despite him being quite the heavy sleeper something still woke him up in the middle of the night, and for a brief moment Can couldn't understand what it was until he heard a little snore right behind his ear. That's when he noticed the strong arm around his body and the hand that was touching the exposed skin of his thigh. "Tin?" He whispered groggily. There was no reaction, not even for the second and the third time. Tin wasn't groping him or locking him in place, it was quite easy for Can to just move a bit and slip away from hat arm that's been resting on him, but something in him just broke. Even with regular sex with people Can felt quite touch starved, which he lied to himself was the reason for him to slowly turn around and snuggle his face into Tin's chest, feeling small. They weren't even friends and yet he felt like there was nothing that could pull him away, like he just had to be there. When Tin's arm moved just a bit and the sleeping boy pulled him even closer into the embrace, Can finally closed his eyes again.