Chapter Text
The rest of the day passed faster than I could believe, and before I knew it I was at the reception, just minutes away from giving my first-ever speech to a crowd. I hadn’t seen my colleagues for most of the night - Da-On was doing his best to stay out of Mrs. Kim’s sight, and had therefore taken catering supervision, and Nam-Goong was doing double duty selling corsages and taking raffle tickets. Both wished me good luck as we entered the building. I hadn’t seen Shin-Woo at all, though I knew that was only because he was busy at the coat check in the entryway. I knew all of this, of course, but it didn’t help me feel less alone.
Woo Tae-Kyung steps up on the stage after getting the signal from Mrs. Kim that she’s ready to start the fundraising portion of the evening. He’s already feeling a bit warm in his nice blazer, and the light over the stage isn’t helping. Still, he has to get through this. He reaches up to adjust the mic and jumps back at the screech of feedback. The sound person they hired hurries to fix some setting or other, and then gestures for him to try again. He adjusts the mic, and then clears his throat, looking out over the crowd. He hadn’t really thought he was prepared, but now, looking out at the people here, he knows he’s not. There’s so many of them. So many people he doesn’t know, just waiting for him to screw up. He swallows hard, and scans the crowd for any familiar face.
A small amount of movement from the back catches his eye, and he looks to see Da-On stepping out of the kitchen. Da-On smiles and nods encouragingly. Tae-Kyung takes a deep breath, and steps up to the podium, his eyes sliding back to center. There, at the back of the tables by the door, stands Noh Shin-Woo. He’s wearing a bright blue blazer, and has a matching light blue flower, not through his buttonhole like all the rest of the men here, but tucked behind his ear. Tae-Kyung can feel a smile spreading over his face. Just silly enough to remind him that he’s done this a million times, all he has to do is focus on Noh Shin-Woo. Shin-Woo blushes and drops his gaze, and seeing the red ears is enough. Tae-Kyung takes another deep breath.
“Good evening! My name is Woo Tae-Kyung, and I’m here to welcome you to the annual fundraiser for Endangered Species, this year hosted by the lovely Mrs. Kim!” Tae-Kyung announces. Now that he’s started, continuing feels rather easy, actually. He’s practiced what he’s supposed to say many times and it just flows out of him without any need for him to interfere. Before too long, he’s reaching the end of his speech, and announcing Mrs. Kim for her part of the evening. As he steps off the stage, everyone claps, but the loudest are from his colleagues, scattered around the room.
The event runs fairly late into the night, but after his speech Woo Tae-Kyung finds himself without anything to do. He mills around the large banquet hall, and makes pleasantries as best he can. At one point he’s invited to join a table but he respectfully declines - as organizers they made a point to have already eaten.
Eventually, the guests begin filing out and Tae-Kyung breathes a sigh of relief before beginning to pick up programs and the last place settings left on the tables. He smiles as he watches Nam-Goong fawn over Mrs. Kim, who seems very happy, and though that may have been at least partly due to the alcohol they’d been serving, Tae-Kyung did see enough happy attendees that he suspects the cause did quite well.
After a moment Da-On joines them, and Tae-Kyung is glad that Mrs. Kim doesn’t have an immediate negative reaction. It seems that the damage at the art show has truly been smoothed over with this event. That’s good, Tae-Kyung thinks, Da-On doesn’t need more trouble. He watches for a few more minutes as Da-On gives Mrs. Kim his very best customer treatment. Tae-Kyung can tell that it’s fake, now, but Da-On has always been good at this and it’s quite likely that nobody else can tell, least of all a drunk Mrs. Kim.
It’s interesting, now that he thinks about it, how different this event is from the last one. At the art show, he’d spent his evening dazed and confused, and worried about Da-On’s tendency to give more of himself than he should. Tonight, despite his nerves over the speech he has none of those worries. Perhaps that is a sign. Unfortunately, Tae-Kyung isn’t sure what kind of sign it is.
Da-On looks over, meets Tae-Kyung’s gaze, and smiles. Tae-Kyung smiles back before returning to picking up the various odds and ends that attendees left at their tables. It’s nice not to have as many worries, he decides. Whatever the future may hold, he’s happy here, but more importantly he’s comfortable. It’s a good place to be.
“Tae-Kyung,” Da-On says as he approaches, “You don’t have to clear these up, the caterers will do that.”
“Oh, that’s alright,” Tae-Kyung replies, “I feel like I’ve barely done anything all night.”
“You gave the speech! That was the most important part, you deserve the night off,” Da-On protests, “Which, you did really well, by the way. I’m really proud of you.”
Tae-Kyung smiles at Da-On. Just a few weeks ago he would have given anything for that amount of praise.
“Listen, Tae-Kyung, do you need a-” Da-On starts.
“Tae-Kyung!” Shin-Woo calls out, walking over from his post at the coat check, “The last people have left, so I’m done. You did so well!”
“Thank you,” Tae-Kyung says with a smile.
“We’re going the same way, c-can I walk you home now that we’re both done?” Shin-Woo asks. His ears are bright red, and Tae-Kyung does his best not to grin.
“Sure,” Tae-Kyung agrees, “Da-On were you…?”
Da-On shakes his head, though Tae-Kyung thinks perhaps there’s a slight hint of disappointment on his face.
“It’s okay. Like I said, you deserve the night off. Go ahead,” he says. Tae-Kyung nods.
The night air is cool on Tae-Kyung’s face, and it feels nice after the intense heat of being on the stage. He lifts his chin to look at the night sky, and can feel the tension in his shoulders drop.
“You really did do very well tonight,” Shin-Woo says, and Tae-Kyung looks back down at him.
“Thanks!” he says with a smile. Shin-Woo blushes again. Tae-Kyung can’t help the giggle that escapes him, and Shin-Woo looks at him sharply.
“I’m sorry,” Tae-Kyung says quickly, “I’m not laughing at you. I was just thinking about how things are so different now than they used to be. That first day we met, I thought you really hated me.”
“I didn’t really hate you.”
“Ah, just a little hate then. Well that’s alright,” Tae-Kyung jokes. He gently bumps Shin-Woo’s shoulder with his own, briefly enough that he doesn’t overhear anything, “What about now?”
“Now?” Shin-Woo stops to look at him, so Tae-Kyung stops with him.
“How do you feel about me now?” Tae-Kyung asks.
Much to his surprise, Shin-Woo doesn’t break eye contact for a long moment. Tae-Kyung wonders whether he’s planning to respond, and then Shin-Woo’s gaze darts down and to one side. Tae-Kyung looks, to find Shin-Woo tentatively holding out a hand. Tae-Kyung smiles and takes it.
I like you. I really like you.
Tae-Kyung looks back up at Shin-Woo and smiles.
“I like you too,” he says, and he feels the worry of needing to make a choice drop away finally.
Oh, he’s so cute, Tae-Kyung hears, and then Shin-Woo blushes and attempts to pull his hand away. Tae-Kyung just holds on harder, and begins tugging Shin-Woo back in the direction they’d been going.
You’re cute too, you know, he thinks back when Shin-Woo stops struggling, especially with that flower in your hair.
They hold hands all the way back to Tae-Kyung’s apartment, not even speaking mentally, just enjoying each others’ company.