Chapter Text
It was another usual morning where, once again, Tae Kyung finds himself sweeping the floor of the council room but he could hardly find it in himself to complain about it anymore. He has been cleaning up the council room for the past two weeks already and it somehow became a comfort habit for Tae Kyung. It was as though he has something else in his life other than school.
Sure, he has his boyfriend but it’s different. Tae Kyung actually had friends now which was something he still couldn’t wrap his head around. Tae Kyung shook his head before the cynical side of him appears and begins to overthink. Focusing back on the task on hand, Tae Kyung noticed a paper ball on the ground. Fixated on it for some reason, Tae Kyung bent down to pick it up, unfolding it as he stood back up.
And almost immediately, the peace that Tae Kyung had minutes ago dissipated as he read what was on the paper.
“Oh, Tae Kyung! You’re here?” A familiar voice called out and without a second thought, Tae Kyung hid his hand behind his back as he looked up to greet the visitor.
Oh, visitors
“Gosh, were you cleaning? You’re so diligent,” Namgung praised the younger boy as he eyed the broom in Tae Kyung’s hand.
Forcing a smile on his face, Tae Kyung discreetly folded the paper and slid it in his back pocket.
“Did you get home safely yesterday?” Da On asked politely with both hands tucked in his pant pocket.
To say that Da On and Tae Kyung parted ways on good terms would be a bit of an overstatement.
“Because what’s good is good?”
“Exactly”
But things wasn’t good and Tae Kyung wasn’t ready to just brush it off like that.
“Erm… I tried messaging you yesterday but I didn’t get a reply,” Da On cautiously added, quite unsure on how to deal with such a situation. The couple typically never got into big fights, or fights in general so Da On was at a lost on how to make things better.
Are they even in a fight right now?
“Oh, my phone broke,” Tae Kyung explained, retrieving his phone to show his cracked screen, “it’s really hard to read or reply texts.”
“How did you break it?” Da On asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly as he attempted to understand how his boyfriend’s managed to get into that state from the time they parted ways to now. Tae Kyung wasn’t typically a clumsy person. Da On glanced back at Tae Kyung, only to finally realised that something was amiss.
“Ya, Woo Tae Kyung, what happened to your face?”
Instinctively, Da On reached out to cup the side of Tae Kyung’s jaw to get a closer look at the not so fresh abrasion that wasn’t there the last he saw his boyfriend.
“Oh right.”
Da On pulled away to look at Tae Kyung who was gesturing at his abrasion, staring off side. “I just got a bit of a scratch.”
“That’s not a scratch.”
“You could say it’s a scar created by justice,” Namjung remarked, giving a knowing look at Tae Kyung who frowned slightly and shook his head, signalling the latter to not say anything more.
But before Da On could question further, the door clicked opened and Shin Woo stepped in.
“Woahh,” Namjung marvelled at the sight of that vice-president. “We’ve never been all together this early in the morning”
“Shin Woo, you’re here early too,” Da On remarked as a form of greeting.
“Hi,” a voice called and before Tae Kyung could add anything else, 2 pairs of eyes were trained on him, eyes widened in disbelief at what they just heard and now seeing. Feeling awkward at the attention, Tae Kyung slowly lowered his hand which he initially had it lifted to welcome Shin Woo.
“Oh, hi,” Shin Woo waved back with the same amount of awkwardness which he immediately retracted by brushing his hair back.
“Did you guys just greet each other?” Da On stammered slightly, his mind racing back to just the other day when he caught Shin Woo being suspicious around his boyfriend.
As much as he wanted to drill his Vice President with 101 questions in relations to him and Tae Kyung, Da On knows that not only would it be inappropriate, it’ll come off as suspicious and he and Tae Kyung hasn’t really discussed about being public with their relationship. Swallowing whatever uneasiness he was currently feeling, Da On plastered a grin on his face.
“The atmosphere in here is different now that you get along,” Da On chimed in as he placed an arm around Namgung, “let’s all go out to get something to eat next time.”
Da On peered from behind the library’s bookcase, watching his boyfriend studying on his own. Judging from the pout on his face and the ever so often head shaking. Tae Kyung was obviously doing Math. Being busy these couple of weeks sometimes makes Da On forget how much he adored simply having the time to watch the latter. How could anyone not think his boyfriend is the cutest thing ever?
Well, you know someone who would agree with you 100%, his mind helpfully reminded him.
Not wanting to allow such thoughts to consume him, Da On decided to make his presence known by approaching his boyfriend. Peering over his shoulder to see what Tae Kyung was working, Da On remarked, “sin 2 over pi minus 2x”
Tae Kyung paused to stare at his equation before doing what he was told. Da On had to stifle a chuckle at how oblivious his boyfriend could be.
“Da On?” Tae Kyung when he finally registered that there was someone with him. He turned his head only to have Da On’s face incredibly close to his. Tae Kyung nervously licked his lips at the proximity between the two of them which didn’t seem to be the greatest idea, judging from the way Da On was intensely looking at them now.
“What are you doing here?” Tae Kyung voice hitched a little when his boyfriend moved an inch closer with a playful grin on his face.
“Can I kiss you?” Da On murmured instead. Seeing the hesitance on the younger boy’s face, Da On added, “don’t worry, I’ve checked. No one’s around.”
Eyes filled with trust, Tae Kyung gave a small nod before slowly closing his eyes shut when he felt a familiar press against his lips. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of contentment when his senses was just clouded with his boyfriend. Da On gently lifted his hands and caressed the side of Tae Kyung’s jaw, tilting to the side slightly to fit better. Da On allowed himself to get lost in the moment as he gently nibbled on Tae Kyung’s lower lip, immediately soothing it with his tongue. It was as if time had stopped for both the boys to let them simply enjoy each other’s presence.
Unfortunately, Da On knew better. As much as he would like to continue kissing his boyfriend, Da On had to reluctantly pull away. Unable to resist being too far apart from his boyfriend, Da On rested his forehead against Tae Kyung’s as the two of them calmed their racing hearts.
“I’m really really sorry about last night,” Da On softly apologised, “I shouldn’t have agreed to the blind date. It was tactless and disrespectful to our relationship and you don’t deserve that.”
Tae Kyung blinked at the the older boy, slightly taken aback at the unexpected apology. He pulled away so that he could look at Da On properly. Tae Kyung gestured the latter to take a seat next to him, thinking that it would be more appropriate to have them at the same level for this conversation. Tae Kyung gnawed his lower lip as he attempted to gather his thoughts and his ever patient boyfriend took a seat and waited patiently for Tae Kyung to be ready.
“You’re right. It was tactless and I didn’t feel great at all about it last night. And to be honest, I don’t really feel great thinking about it right now,” Tae Kyung admitted, to which Da On had the decency to wince at.
“But knowing you for almost a year, I’ve come to understand that you making decisions like that is just a trait that you have in you. You’ve told me before, you don’t like hurting people because you don’t like to be hurt. And last night was the result of that. You didn’t want to hurt your friend by rejecting their request to the blind date.”
Tae Kyung paused for a second but Da On knows he wasn’t done.
“But in your attempts of not hurting them, you unintentionally hurt me instead.”
“I know,” Da On whispered painfully, “you’re the last person I want to ever hurt. I promise I’ll do better. I’m so sorry Tae Kyung.”
Before Tae Kyung could give a response, someone intentionally cleared their throat, obviously calling for attention.
The two boys looked back and had to immediately try to hide the look of irritation of not only being interrupted but by who as well.
“I’m sorry. Did I surprise you?” Soo Hee asked. Without waiting for a response, Soo Hee grabbed a chair and took a seat between Da On and Tae Kyung.
“So what are we talking about? I’ve never seen you look so serious about something, Shin Da On.
Soo Hee glanced at both Da On and Tae Kyung, this time expecting an actual response.
“Soo Hee, we’re talking about some council matters,” Da On explained, hoping that the girl would get the obvious hint to leave.
“Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting. Go ahead and continue. I was thinking that the two of us should go and have tteokbokki afterwards. So I can just wait…” Soo Hee tried to squeeze closer, forcing Tae Kyung to move further away to the side.
“Right here.” Soo Hee grinned and gestured to the two of them to continue their conversation in front of her.
Tae Kyung let out a sigh and turned to Da On, “I actually have something to do. Maybe we can continue you this some other time.”
“Really?” Soo Hee feigned disappointment, “you should go.”
She then immediately gave her attention back to Da On, wrapping her arms around Da On’s.
“Da On, so about having tteokbokki…”
But Da On’s eyes wasn’t on her. The moment Tae Kyung grabbed his bag and stood up, Da On immediately reach out to grab the latter’s arm, effectively removing Soo Hee’s grip around his.
“Tae Kyung, wait.” Da On looked at Soo Hee and looked at her firmly, “Tae Kyung and I really do have something important to talk about. If you wait in the council room, I’ll meet you there. We’ll be done really soon okay? Go and wait for me there.”
Soo Hee looked down as she contemplated if she was willing to leave. However, she gave in and stood up from her seat. “Hurry up, Da On. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Once Da On was sure Soo Hee has left, Da On reached down into his pant pocket. “I know I can’t force a forgiveness out of you and you might need time to be okay with me again but…”
Da On took out the plaster and lifted it to eye level, “would you let me at least take care of your abrasion?”
Tae Kyung softened when Da On dragged his chair closer to his. He gave the boy a slight nod and looked to the side to offer his cheek.
“Let me see,” Da On said as he held Tae Kyung’s chin to take a closer look. Face serious, Da On removed the wrapper of the bandaid and carefully placed it on Tae Kyung’s wound.
“You shouldn’t have a scar on your pretty face.”
Da On pulled away and gave his boyfriend a tender smile and when he was returned a smile, Da On knew everything was going to be okay between them. While staring at Tae Kyung’s face, Da On noticed a figure watching them from the sideline. Pretending not to know about the newcomer, Da On asked for Tae Kyung’s plans over the weekend.
“Shall we go to a cafe afterwards then?” Da On suggested, eyes slightly narrowing when the figure seemed to be crushing a box of something before taking his leave. Da On was willing to bet his life that that box was filled with bandaids.
Noh Shin Woo, what are you doing here?
“What are you looking at?” Tae Kyung asked when he realized that he seemed to have lost his boyfriend’s attention.
“Huh? Nothing really.” Da On glanced back at his boyfriend and offered a reassuring smile, “so shall we have a date this weekend?”
“Hmm… That sounds nice actually. It’s been awhile since we’ve been on a date,” Tae Kyung wistfully said, leaning forward to place his chin on Da On’s shoulder, “let’s have a date this weekend.”
Da On placed an affectionate kiss on the top of Tae Kyung’s head. “I can’t wait.”