1 Year, 5 Months Ago
He's back in Singto's room, and it's the third time this week that he's in it. After their fight, Krist worked hard to improve their relationship, fix things between them, so now...
Sitting on the bed comes easy to him; showering right after the elder comes easy to him.
Sharing food and space now comes easy to them; falling asleep together comes easy to them.
Krist wonders when that began to happen. He expels the thoughts for now, rinsing out his hair and rinsing off his body one last time. Once finished, he turns off the water and sticks his arm out the shower to grab a towel. He hurriedly pulls it into the shower with him, making the rings of the curtain screech unattractively when the shower curtain gets pushed aside roughly.
After drying himself off, he realizes he didn't bring any clothes with him to the bathroom.
Nice.
"Um," he says, way softer than he meant to be, "P'?"
"What?" Singto's voice is fairly faint.
"I left my clothes," Krist replies, louder this time.
He doesn't get a response until a knock comes on the bathroom door.
Securing his towel around his waist, Krist opens it. Outside stands Singto, t-shirt and sweatpants in his hands.
"There's underwear there, too," Singto says. "You left it here a couple weeks ago. I meant to give it to you, but I kept forgetting. It was kind of awkward, you know?"
Krist flushes and hopes he can pass it off as a side effect of the hot shower.
"Yeah," he says, playing it cool. "I know." He takes the clothes. "Thank you."
"No problem," Singto replies.
They stare at each other for a second before Singto steps away, hitting the wall behind him. "I'll just go. Sorry."
Krist's eyes stay locked on him until he disappears around the corner. Krist shuts the door and gets dressed. The clothes smell like Singto, and the fabric is soft.
When Krist gets out of the bathroom, the elder is reading.
He climbs onto the bed next to him. "How's the book?" he asks.
Singto glances over at him before turning the page and going back to reading. "It's okay," he answers.
"What's it about?" Krist questions.
Singto half-heartedly adjusts the book so the blurb is in view.
Krist's expression falls. "Okay," he says. "If you say it's only okay, I don't think I'll read it."
"It's not bad," Singto changes his answer.
"It's okay," Krist says. "I don't think I'll read it either way."
Singto sets down the book. "What?" His voice is flat.
"I just...." Words fail him. Krist shakes his head. "Don't worry about it."
"As your P'," Singto says, startling Krist when he places a hand on the younger's knee, "I kind of have to worry about you."
Krist refrains from saying something snarky in reply. Eventually, he settles on: "You did it again."
Singto's face scrunches up. "Did what?" he asks, removing his hand from Krist's knee and returning it to his side.
Krist releases a shaky breath. "Why do you hesitate? You said it wasn't because of that, but I don't believe you, P'." He looks at the elder. "Why don't I believe you?"
SIngto doesn't answer.
Krist thinks his silence is enough. "I see," he says. "Maybe we shouldn't work together anymore."
"It's not you," Singto says quickly. "I've always felt like that. You didn't change a thing."
"Oh," Krist says. He moves. The fabric of his sweatpants shifts, also. It's soft. It smells like Singto. "Maybe we shouldn't work together anymore," he repeats.
"I just said it's not because of you," Singto responds. "Don't be weird."
"I'm not," Krist says. "I just don't know if it's a good idea."
His nose itches. When he lifts his hand, the t-shirt moves with it. The fabric is soft. The fabric smells like Singto. "It's not a good idea," he amends.
Singto looks hurt. Krist hates it.
"Forget it," Krist decides. "Forget I said anything. Don't listen to me. I'm stupid. I'm dumb. Sorry."
"Don't say that," Singto says, but it's clear he's saying it because he's supposed to, not because he actually disagrees.
Krist apologizes again.
They manage to watch a movie together, but Krist feels every move the elder makes, and he's so attuned to his surroundings that he can't focus, so when the elder falls asleep, he turns off the TV, turns out the lights, and goes back to his own room, leaving a note for the elder saying he'll return the clothes in the morning.
When he gets back to his room, Krist is left staring at the ceiling, wondering if there was anything that could've given the elder away. Something not in the interview. Something only he'd know.
He racks his brain only to find nothing.
Nothing could've given away the fact that Singto liked guys.
Krist goes to sleep that night feeling sick, and when he sees the elder the next day, he only feels worse.
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a/n hey guys so i've kinda fallen sick, so there's only going to be one chapter today bc im not sure how much more i'm going to write (i have up until scene 7 or so done??) so im slowing down my updates,, i'll try to write more but for now, i'm sorry _:('ཀ'」 ∠):