They barely took one shallow step out of the elevator before Edwin stopped and slowly let out a deep groan, causing Ethan to turn around and look wonderingly at him with a confused expression.
"What the heck was that for?" Ethan laughed a bit.
"Ugh, you just wait here, I have to go back out, I forgot something all the way at home- Fuck..." Edwin grumbled in an annoyed tone and turned around, suddenly pressing the elevator doors back open again and stepping inside. He pushed the big '0' button, but just as the doors started closing again Ethan slid through into the elevator as well with a beaming smile.
"I'll follow you!" He almost demanded, the rocky elevator slowly starting to move beneath their feet. "I don't like just having to wait for you, what did you even forget anyways?"
"Oh, it's not-" Edwin began, but promptly shut his mouth again. The elevator had came to a sudden stop, only one floor from where they had started. The doors slid open to reveal the empty hallway of floor five, and the distinctive sound of echoing footsteps running in the stairwell could be heard clearly.
"Damn annoying kids, can they ever stop pressing all the buttons..." Edwin complained and rapidly pushed the doors button to close again. "Well, anyways, you don't have to follow me all the way back just for that, you'll just get bored and... Uh, yeah, it's kind of a surprise." He finally mumbled out the last words. Small smile across his lips, he grabbed onto Ethan's one free hand and gave him a shy kiss to the cheek, which caused Ethan to giggle a bit. Edwin adored Ethan's shocked face for a second, then continued his debate again before Ethan had any chance to argue against him.
"You need to get yourself a proper breakfast anyways, and relax for once. You're so distressed all the time Ethan, calm down. I'll be back in just some minutes. I'll drive right there, then I'll drive right back, I swear."
The elevator stopped and the two of them stepped out to the ground floor. Ethan followed close behind Edwin, feeling a small blush creep onto his face as he smiled lovingly to himself.
"Fine, but really Edwin you don't need to get me a ton of surprises, again and again, and again? I don't have anything to give you back anyways... I'll at least follow you out." Ethan insisted, and Edwin nodded approvingly a bit, squeezing Ethan's hand in his.
"Fine, I suppose that's reasonable. I can't really hinder you anyways now can I?" He smiled . Clasping hands, they stepped back into the warming heat, where they had already been just a minute earlier. Edwin turned around to give Ethan a hug. Ethan had to hold out the flowers towards the road to prevent them from getting squished between their embraces.
"I don't need any surprise from you. It's enough if you just stay here with me forever. Let me spoil you a little bit." He informed Ethan, eagerly giving him a peck on his blushing cheek. He pulled himself free from Ethan's tight hold and quickly rushed towards his luxury car in the parking lot a few meters away.
The blushing boy was left alone outside the doors to the building, thinking about what Edwin had just told him before running away. He stared at the black car as it abruptly disappeared behind a turn, holding the fragrant flowers tenderly against his chest. It is possible they would actually be together evermore? It was a lovely thought, and after all the terrible things him and Edwin had been through together there was no one else he wanted to repay more, after all. He stood outside the grand building for a minute, merely enjoying the moment, getting lost in the slight breeze, before he finally snapped back to cruel reality and walked inside again. A sudden thought interrupted his dreamlike state. Did the two of them really deserve being this happy together? He experienced a sense of guilt over how he was enjoying his relationship with Edwin, now that they were just two. They didn't bring up Shun often, didn't know how. Ethan knew Edwin thought about it too. Every so often, they cried together over their lost lover, but they still enjoyed each other. Three turned to two, but Ethan wouldn't have cherished it with anybody else. He genuinely wanted to consume his life with Edwin, from the bottom of his heart.
He operated the elevator up to the sixth floor and fished up the keys from his purse. He walked up to Edwin's apartment, soon unlocking it, stepping inside and closing the door behind himself. He threw his purse down onto the chair next to the door, then froze as he noticed the two unfamiliar pair of shoes thrown onto the floor of the hallway. He was absolutely certain they hadn't left shoes thrown all over the place the last time they were here. Ethan silently slid his feet out of his own shoes and placed them neatly in the corner, the same place he always put his shoes at. Then, he slowly started walking through the slim apartment hallway. He took a turn into the kitchen, staring around every corner he passed, then gently put the flowers down onto the black stone surface that covered the cabinets. They had managed to stay completely fine up until this point, so he hoped they would survive a few more minutes as he inspected the rest of the apartment. One step back to the hallway and he stopped suddenly, turning to the direction of the bedroom, which was almost right in front of him.
"Hey, isn't this the girl that got pregnant last year..?" Ai's silky voice asked in a puzzled tone.
"Oh, I never even realized he had a picture of her here, ain't that interesting." Datui answered, and Ethan could virtually see his irritating smirk through the wall. He rolled his eyes a bit and sighed to himself. While he was more than relieved he knew who had gotten themselves in here, he was none less confused. He put his foot against the door and slowly pushed it open, which caused a loud creak to echo through the apartment.
"She has a name, you know." Ethan mumbled, trying to disregard their previous comments. "That's Zen. She's... A close friend, she's extremely kind, though." He explained, walking over to the two younger teenagers and grabbing the photo from Ai's hands. Ethan held it up between them all. "The guy to the left is Chen. The one in the middle, is Edwin, and there in the back is... Oh, yeah, you can probably see." Ethan suddenly lowered his voice to a whisper, looking a bit embarrassed as he slowly set the frame back down onto the nightstand next to the gorgeous bed. Shun's charming smile shone back up at them from the other side of the glossy glass surface.
"Ah..." Ai mumbled in a low voice, before raising his hand and giving Ethan a slight wave and a smile. "Hello." He looked over at Datui, who put his hands into his shallow pockets and smiled knowingly.
"I didn't know you were a player." Datui greeted Ethan with a chuckle. "You know, it's no fun breaking in if you're going to be home. Weren't you supposed to be going away today?" He complained.
"Really Datui? Really?" Ethan faked an offended expression before shaking his head a bit with a sigh and a smile. How this guy hadn't caused his brain to explode yet was beyond his knowledge. "You're truly something else- Wait, seriously, put on a shirt Datui!" He suddenly yelled out, staring Datui's skinny figure up and down.
"Huh?" Datui gave him a confused look, then stared down at himself as well. "Oh- Wait, are you complaining? Over my model body? I should be offended, but you're somewhat pleasant so I'll let it slip this time. It's so warm, I totally forgot about it." Datui confessed. He looked over at Ai and gave her a small nudge with his elbow. "Alright, go on Ai, tell him already." He suddenly ordered, and Ai stiffened up between the two other boys as all the attention suddenly got shifted towards him.
"Ah, well..." Ai mumbled slowly, lowering his head and stamping his feet a bit. There was a lengthy, tense pause as the teens all stared between each other.
"Ah, no, I- Uh, I can't do it." Ai finally stuttered out and bit his lip, shaking his head a bit and putting his hand on Datui's arm.
"What? Is it, like, important?" Ethan asked with an anxious expression, and tried to not stare at Ai all too much. He waited for a while, but Ai didn't say anything more. "Oh come on, I want to know now! You can't just say that and not tell me? Is it grave? How bad?" Ethan asked, feeling both curious and anxious over whatever the others were about to share with him.
"Hey, chill down, it's not bad!" Datui answered in a harsh tone, and Ethan seemed to get quite surprised at that statement coming from someone like him. He gave Datui a bewildered look, and waited for him to continue.
"Well, you're kind of the one who like, inspires him or whatever you can consider it anyways, Ai's decided to be a guy now." Datui ultimately said, and Ai gave him a harsh glare.
"Datui! You're so damn mean..!" Ai let out in embarrassment, crossing his arms.
"What? You were the one who wanted to tell him anyways. And besides, why the fuck would Ethan, out of anyone, question you? Have you seen the guy?" Datui somewhat scolded Ai for not announcing it himself.
"Wait, uh, wait up, what's going on?" Ethan frowned a bit in confusion. "Really Ai? Thats- Well, isn't that a bit dangerous? Are you sure?" He asked, quite concerned, and looked at Ai who merely shook his head.
"I- I don't know." Ai lowered his voice a bit again and looked up at Ethan. "I mean, I've always felt like, well, like this. So why not proceed? I might just try it out for a while, maybe I might be supposed to be more like a boy." He tried explaining himself. Ethan gave him a small nod, looking down at him with gentle eyes which caused a slight smile to grow onto Ai's face. He took the chance to change subject quickly.
"Anyways, I didn't know you were friends with Zen Jung. Isn't she related to, uhm, that rich one..." Ai paused for a moment, slowly turning to the picture on the nightstand and pointing towards the left corner. "That, Chun Jung, that's his name, right? He moved here from Korea, didn't he?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess everyone knows a bit about them after all. Though Zen typically writes Baek-hyun as her surname." Ethan sighed. "They're cousins, Chen and I attend the same class. We've been friends for quite some time now. Zen just moved here maybe one or two years ago, I don't really remember when exactly but she hasn't been here for very long. They're really charming people though, don't listen to the rumours they're all false." He hastily finished.
"Don't worry, Ai almost never really believes those kind of rumours. Anyone with a brain would figure out they're pretty much never true." Datui joined in, and Ethan nodded agreeably with a small scoff.
"Yeah well I wish that was accurate. Honestly, some people just believe anything they pick up. I could likely tell some guy from art class that I saw you knit a sweater in a dumpster during the late weekend night and he most likely wouldn't even question it." Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Well who knows, maybe I'm loaded with surprises." Datui quickly answered and neither Ethan nor Ai could help but to let out a foolish laugh.
"Oh, Ai! Do you want, uhm, some pants?" Ethan asked after a second, smiling over at Ai and looking down at his slim, bruised legs, the window casting them as fragile shadows on the black wooden floor below.
"Huh?" Ai took a second to process Ethans question and soon looked down at his legs as well. "Ah, I have no pants... I don't think I own any, no pants." Ai smiled and slid his hands down to pat his thighs. "Pants are over-rated, though."
He watched as Ethan walked over to the big, white closet and swung the door open, roaming through the horrible mess inside. He pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a navy blue t-shirt, holding the clothes out in front of himself for a second. He threw the shirt at Datui, aiming for his face, but Datui was too quick and simply caught it in his hand instead.
"You're on thin ice there Ethan, watch out." Datui tossed the shirt onto the bed and sat down besides it.
"Oh really? And what are you going to do, you stick, step on my foot?" Ethan giggled and handed the pants over to Ai. "Christ, Datui, cover yourself, please." He begged. Datui stamped his feet against the floor a few times, considering the offer. Maybe he would like to step on Ethan. The sound echoed though the light black and white themed room and Datui grew a satisfied smirk onto his lips. He held the shirt up in front of him.
"Alri- Wait!" He suddenly stopped himself. "Is this Edwins shirt?"
"Uh, yeah I think so." Ethan looked over at it. "I don't really look good in navy."
"Oh, no way I am not putting that on. The devil himself has displayed it!" Datui forced a disgusting face and tossed the shirt back at Ethan, who, unlike Datui, did not manage to catch it and instead bent down to pick it up from the floor with an annoyed sigh.
"You do not get to call him that! He's a total sweetheart you're just too ungrateful to recognize it." Ethan defended his lover and gave Datui a warning look as he tossed him a lavender coloured top instead. "Is this better?"
"Absolutely, thank you a lot. I am in fact extremely grateful." Datui answered in a sarcastic tone, desperate to prove Ethans statement wrong. Ethan sighed and shook his head, turning away from Datui to look over at Ai, who had busied himself with trying to make Ethan's way too big sweatpants look relatively good on his much shorter legs.
"Uh, I've never worn pants before... Are they supposed to, like-" He cut himself off and looked up at Ethan. "They look like a diaper on me." Ai commented, and Ethan couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Honey, Ai sweetheart we need to take you shopping, you don't own any pants? If you're going to be a guy you will want to possess some, I can promise you that." Ethan commented with a smile.
"But, well, can't guys wear skirts too? I mean, you're kinda a guy." Ai visibly struggled to discover the precise words for his question without seeming offensive, but Ethan didn't seem to mind.
"Well, yes, of course, but the thing is I look like a box and you, I mean, you do look rather feminine, I'm so sorry. You can still wear skirts though. No one will stop you. But if you require other people to perceive you as more masculine I'd advice you to at least own a few pairs of jeans. People are odd, they guess on anything. No one is forcing you to wear them, I'm just advising you to at least own some, I'll buy them for you. Who knows maybe you'll end up liking it. Isn't it worth a try?"
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Personally if I were in Ethan's shoes and thought someone might have broken into my partners apartment, I would not have gone in. Would you? I'd be out in seconds-