Archive of Our Own

Taeyoung hates his job.

Other people say he must be exaggerating when he says that, but he assures he isn’t, and that he really would rather be working anywhere else if he had the choice.

He works at his parents’ restaurant and while he loves them, they’re tough when it comes to running a business.
The amount of rude people he deals with on a daily basis doesn’t help either.

Along with energy drinks, something that helps Taeyoung get through every day is looking through the window at the other family restaurant across the street. More specifically, looking at their cute son. Sometimes, he looks back and they wave at each other, before smiling shyly and getting back to what they were supposed to be doing.

The rivalry between Taeyoung’s family and the Song family has been going on for as long as Taeyoung can remember. From what he’s heard, his dad and their dad were good friends as kids, but they had a massive fight when they were in college and their relationship was never the same since.
And, according to Taeyoung’s dad, it was ‘simply coincidence’ that they opened their restaurant across the street from the Songs. (Taeyoung doesn’t believe him.)

Taeyoung is fairly sure that if his family found out he’s crushing on a Song, they would lose their minds, or at least, his dad would, so he keeps their fleeting stares and timid waves to himself. Still, he wishes they could have a conversation without the risk of starting a massive argument between their families or at the very least, having their fathers breathing down their necks. He was extremely curious about the other boy, and he desperately wanted to know more about him. He hoped that he felt the same way too.

“Taeyoung!”
Turning his head, Taeyoung saw his dad approaching him. He momentarily stopped wiping the table he was cleaning to give him his full attention.
“What’s up, dad?”
His dad reached into his pocket, and handed Taeyoung some money.

“Go across the street, and see what the Songs are doing. Order something so you don’t seem suspicious, and come back and tell me if they’re doing anything new.”

Taeyoung examined the note in his hand. He tugged it a couple times, checking if it was genuine. He didn’t think his dad would have fake money, but you can’t be too sure. Especially since this money would be going to the Songs.

“Wait, but… Won’t they recognise me?”
His dad shrugged.
“They might not realise. Especially if the kid is at the counter.”
“I… Okay, dad.”

Taeyoung took off his apron, throwing it anywhere before running out of the door and across the street.
Since it was almost closing time, both restaurants were quiet, with only a few stragglers sitting around.
Taeyoung’s dad was right about who would be working out front, because Taeyoung spotted his messy blonde hair as soon as he walked in the door. He couldn’t fight the grin on his face.

His footsteps attracted the attention of the boy, who was previously staring down at his phone, and suddenly Taeyoung wasn’t the only one smiling. Taeyoung took a quick look at his nametag out of curiosity.

Hyeongjun. Song Hyeongjun.

Hyeongjun stood up from his chair, and came right up to the counter.
“Hi…” He almost whispered, looking around in case anybody was watching them. “What are you doing here?”

Taeyoung exhaled.
“Do you want the real answer or the bullshit answer?”
Hyeongjun laughed quietly, and Taeyoung thought that seeing him smile through the window was nothing compared to seeing it up close.
“The real answer, please.”
“My dad sent me here to spy on your family, more or less. He even told me to buy something so I’m not suspicious.” Taeyoung did air quotes around the word suspicious, making Hyeongjun laugh more. He slapped his hand over his mouth, worried that he was being too loud. He spoke again once he had gathered himself.

“I see… So, what are you gonna do then?”
“I’ll probably just tell him I didn’t find anything. Might still buy something, though.”
Hyeongjun nodded his head.
“Okay, good plan.” He started tapping on the screen in front of him. “What are you having?”

Taeyoung looked up at the menu. Everything sounded good. There were some things he had never even heard of.
“I don’t know. What do you recommend?”
Hyeongjun hummed, turning to look at the menu himself.
“Um, let’s see… The Double Chicken is really popular. Customers love it. It’s a chicken sandwich, but the chicken is the bun.”
“Oh, that’s interesting. I’ll try it then.”
Hyeongjun tapped on the screen again.
“Sure. It shouldn’t be long.”
“Thanks.”
Hyeongjun disappeared into the back, leaving Taeyoung to take in his surroundings.
The restaurant’s interior was nice. The colour scheme went well together, and it definitely had the feel of a family restaurant.

After a minute or so passed, Hyeongjun returned, grabbing a paper bag and putting the food that Taeyoung had ordered into it. He picked up a pen, scribbled something into the bag, and placed it on the counter in front of Taeyoung.

“Thanks so much. How much will that b-“
“It’s on the house. Don’t worry about it.”
Hyeongjun’s cheeks seemed to be flushed slightly, but Taeyoung didn’t pay it any mind.
“Are you sure?”
Hyeongjun nodded.
“Just think of it as a thank you for always being so nice and waving at me. It makes my day when I see you through the window.”
Taeyoung chuckled.
“Really? Wow, I thought it was only me who felt like that.”
Hyeongjun shook his head.
“Of course it’s not.”

Taeyoung grabbed the paper bag, and held out his empty hand towards Hyeongjun.
“I’m Taeyoung, by the way. Not sure if you knew.”
“I didn’t. So, it’s nice to officially meet you, Taeyoung.” Hyeongjun grabbed Taeyoung’s hand, and shook it. Taeyoung smiled.
“You too, Hyeongjun.”

They stood there for a moment, hands still touching, before Hyeongjun cleared his throat and stepped back.
“You should probably get back to your dad. Be sure to eat that before it gets cold, too!”
“Oh right, uh, will do. Thanks a lot, Hyeongjun!”
“No problem! See you later!”
Taeyoung wasn’t sure if he would see Hyeongjun later, but he wished he could. He waved over his shoulder.
“Yep! See you!

Taeyoung ran back across the street, sandwich in hand, pushing open the door to his restaurant quite violently.
“Taeyoung, there you are! Where have you been?”
His mom greeted him, his dad was nowhere to be seen.
“Dad sent me to spy on the Songs.” He mumbled, going to sit and the nearest table.
“He what? Oh, honey, I told you not to get Taeyoung involved in your spying thing!” She yelled towards the back, but there was no reply. She let out a frustrated sigh, but put a happy face on once she was looking at Taeyoung again. “Anyways, what have you got there?”
“It’s, uh, just some food. Dad told me to buy something too so, I did.” Taeyoung placed the paper bag down, opening it up and taking out the sandwich. It was still warm, and it smelled amazing.
“Oh, that looks good! Enjoy it, I’m just gonna look for your dad.”
Taeyoung hummed in acknowledgment as his mom walked away.

He was about to dig in, when he noticed writing on the bag, which he guessed was what Hyeongjun had scribbled down before he handed it over. He took a look at what it said.

It was great to see you today, I hope we can talk more often in the future!
Text me, maybe? xxx-xxx-xxxx
- Hyeongjun <3

Taeyoung was lucky his parents weren’t around, because he was almost certain his face would have been as red as a tomato.
He thought that this kind of thing only happened in fiction, like in that thing he read once where the cute barista wrote their number down on the main character’s coffee cup.
He grinned to himself, ripping the note off the bag and shoving it in his pocket.

Arriving home, Taeyoung made a beeline up the stairs to his room. His parents didn’t question him, since it wasn’t out of character for him to go straight upstairs after a long day. He kicked off his shoes, changed into more comfortable clothes and flopped down onto his bed.

Digging into the pocket of his discarded jeans, Taeyoung took out the note from Hyeongjun. He grabbed his phone from his nightstand, where he had placed it before, typed the number in, and wrote out a text.

‘hi hyeongjun this is taeyoung!’

He wasn’t expecting a reply right away, but to his surprise, a message popped up about a minute later.

‘hi taeyoung! i was hoping i’d hear from you soon :D’

Taeyoung couldn’t help but smile. Hyeongjun’s message somehow exuded cuteness, but maybe that was just because Taeyoung found him cute anyway.

They continued to text back and forth for the next hour or so, talking about their families, or their dads more specifically, their hobbies and interests, and more random things about themselves. They found out they have a lot more in common than their restaurants too.

Taeyoung learned that Hyeongjun likes to dance, and his dream is to perform on a stage. Taeyoung told Hyeongjun that he would love to see him dance, so Hyeongjun offered to teach him a few things so they could dance together. Taeyoung said he would teach Hyeongjun something about video games in return, too.

They also both agreed that while texting is easy, it doesn’t quite compare to talking to somebody in person, so they should hang out soon, if they can.

Eventually, Hyeongjun stopped replying, so Taeyoung assumed he had fallen asleep and took that as a sign to probably go to sleep himself. He was meant to be working tomorrow, and he would end up hating himself later if he stayed up too late. He put his phone down, and closed his eyes.

For the next couple of days, working seemed a lot easier for Taeyoung, since throughout the day he could talk to Hyeongjun.

They would ask each other how it’s going for them, listen if they needed to rant about a bad customer they just had, or even just chat and joke around. (Taeyoung especially got a kick out of seeing Hyeongjun through the window, laughing at something he had said.)

Taeyoung’s parents noticed that he was a lot more happy while he was working, and they assumed he had just had a change of heart, and decided that he loved his job after all. He let them entertain that idea, but he was back to his phone as soon as they weren’t keeping an eye on him.

Hyeongjun had sent a picture of a cat, and captioned it ‘this reminded me of u’.
Making sure nobody was looking his way, Taeyoung opened his camera app and snapped a picture of himself imitating the face the cat was making. Alongside the text ‘spot the difference’, he sent the picture to Hyeongjun.

After pressing send, he looked out of the window and saw Hyeongjun struggling to keep in a laugh, while also frantically typing on his phone. A message popped up.

‘omg stop i almost laughed so hard everybody would have looked at me i hate u’

Taeyoung replied with a simple ‘lmao’ and looked back towards Hyeongjun. He shrugged and mouthed the word sorry, but Hyeongjun just stuck his tongue out at him. Taeyoung laughed, luckily not very loud, and turned back to his phone.

‘you made me laugh now. meanie’

‘GOOD now we’re even 😼’

Taeyoung shook his head, still grinning, but he was unable to reply again since somebody was approaching the counter. As he was serving the customer, he looked at Hyeongjun once more through the corner of his eye.

He may have only really known him for a few days, but Taeyoung was certain, deep in his heart, that he would do anything to see Hyeongjun smile.

The weekend came around, and Taeyoung didn’t have much to do since he wasn’t at work. His dad was at the restaurant and he wasn’t really in the mood to hang out with his mom, so he was just alone in his room, scrolling aimlessly on his phone. He was about an hour deep into pointless Tiktoks, when his screen got obscured by an incoming call. It was Hyeongjun. He quickly pressed answer.

“Hello?”
“Hey, Tae! Are you busy right now?”
“Not at all… Why?”
“Do you wanna hang out?”

Taeyoung sat up from his relaxed position on his bed.
“Like… Now? Today?”
A laugh came from Hyeongjun.
“Yes, now! I figured we could just go somewhere to like… Eat and talk?“
Taeyoung nodded, forgetting momentarily that Hyeongjun couldn’t see him.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m down! Where did you wanna go?”
“Um… Maybe that new cafe in town? I’ve been wanting to try it since it opened, and it’s far enough away from our restaurants that we’ll go unnoticed.”
“Sounds good!” Taeyoung paused for a moment, sighing. “I just need to figure out what to tell my mom…”
“Just tell her you’re going to see a friend. It technically won’t be a lie.”
Taeyoung chuckled.
“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Yay! Tell me how it goes!”
Taeyoung licked his lips.
“I will. See you soon, hopefully?”
Hyeongjun hummed.
“Alright! Bye, Tae!”

Taeyoung heard beeping in his ear, signalling Hyeongjun had hung up. He threw his phone down onto his bed, and ran to his wardrobe to find something to wear, since didn’t think Hyeongjun would appreciate it if he turned up to meet him in his pyjamas.

It has been a while since Taeyoung had agreed to spontaneous plans like this but it was Hyeongjun, he had been waiting for a long time for an opportunity to hang out with him like this. He just hoped Hyeongjun will actually like spending time with him.

Throwing on a hoodie and some jeans, Taeyoung looked at himself in his mirror. He thought he looked okay. A touch of perfume, and he was good to go. He just had to get past his mom first.

Making his way downstairs, Taeyoung saw his mom watching some TV. He peeked his head around the doorway of the living room.
“Hey, mom?” She turned to face him. “I’m, uh, just going to meet a friend.”
“Oh? Which friend?”
Taeyoung gulped. She had no reason not to believe him, but Taeyoung still felt nervous, as if she was able to tell something was up.
“Uh, Wonjin.” Taeyoung stuttered out. His mom nodded.
“Alright, that’s fine, honey. What are you gonna do for dinner?”
Taeyoung shrugged.
“I’ll probably just eat something while I’m out.”
“Okay. Don’t be home too late!”
Taeyoung breathed a sigh of relief. He was off the hook.
“I won’t. Love you!”

After leaving the house and letting his mom watch her soap operas in peace, Taeyoung took his phone out of his pocket as he started walking down the street. He went straight to Hyeongjun’s contact, and pressed the call button. It took a couple of rings before the older boy picked up.

“Hello?”
“Hey. It worked!”
“You see, I told you it would! So, should we just meet there? It won’t take me long to get there, maybe like ten minutes?”
“Yeah, that’s cool with me! I’ll see you there.“
“Okay, awesome! See you soon then!”
“Yep. Bye for now, Jjun.”
Hyeongjun giggled, his brightness rubbing off on Taeyoung even through the phone.
“Bye, Tae!”

After hanging up and putting his phone into the pocket of his hoodie, Taeyoung couldn’t help but smile.

It took Taeyoung about 15 minutes to get to the cafe. When he turned the street corner, and it came into sight, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. Sure, he knew Hyeongjun, but they hadn’t spent this much time actually together before.
He took a breath, and pushed the door open. He spotted Hyeongjun right away at a booth in the corner, and made a beeline towards him.
“Hey.” He said quietly, worried about bothering other patrons. Hyeongjun looked up from his phone, and his eyes lit up.
“Hi! You’re here!” Hyeongjun was basically yelling, and the efforts of Taeyoung to try not to disturb their fellow customers were deemed useless. Hyeongjun jumped up, and engulfed Taeyoung in a hug. It took him a moment, but Taeyoung hugged him back. A chuckle came from Taeyoung.

“How long have you been waiting?” He questioned, as Hyeongjun sat back down.
“Not long. A couple minutes, maybe?”
“Oh, that’s good.”
Taeyoung went to sit across the table from Hyeongjun, but Hyeongjun stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“…To sit down?”
“Well, why don’t you sit next to me?”
“Oh… Yeah, I guess I could do that.”

Hyeongjun shuffled over a bit on the plush seat, leaving room for Taeyoung. When Taeyoung sat down, he noticed how close he was to Hyeongjun; their knees were even touching. They smiled shyly at each other, before both laughing and looking away.
“God, this is kinda awkward.” Taeyoung said quietly, half joking and half not.
“It’s only awkward if you make it awkward.” Hyeongjun retaliated, nudging Taeyoung’s arm with his elbow.
“Okay, I apologise. I won’t make it awkward.”
Hyeongjun nodded.
“Thank you. Now, where’s the menu…?”

Taeyoung watched as Hyeongjun spotted the paper menu on the table, picked up and pondered his options. Taeyoung thought looked cute when he was concentrating.
“Is there only one menu?”
Hyeongjun looked up, and examined the table.
“Oh, I think so… Come here, read this one.”

Hyeongjun leaned ever so slightly closer to Taeyoung, so he could read the menu too. Taeyoung felt his face warming up, but if Hyeongjun noticed, he was just going to blame the heating in this place.
“See anything you want?”
Taeyoung cleared his throat, getting himself out of his thoughts to actually look at the menu.
“Uh… Some hot chocolate sounds good right now.”
“Hot chocolate? In the spring?”
“Don’t shame me. It’s not my fault I don’t like coffee.”
Hyeongjun laughed.
“I mean, it kind of is but, fine. I’m gonna get a latte and… Do you wanna split some cake?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Any preference?“
Hyeongjun looked away from the paper, and towards Taeyoung. They were so close, Taeyoung was almost certain Hyeongjun would be able to hear how fast his heart was beating. Taeyoung shrugged.
“Cake is cake.” He stuttered out. Hyeongjun nodded, a slight smile on his face.
“Fair enough.”

Taeyoung stood from his seat, allowing Hyeongjun out of the booth. Hyeongjun mumbled a quick ‘I’ll be right back’ before going up the counter. Sitting back down momentarily, he let out a sigh.

Hyeongjun wasn’t even trying, but Taeyoung was getting unreasonably flustered by him. He can’t remember a time when somebody had ever made him feel like this so effortlessly. He patted himself on the cheek a couple times, as a way of saying ‘get yourself together’.

Hyeongjun returned moments later.
“They said they can bring it over.” He said, nodding towards the young worker behind the counter. He gestured for Taeyoung to move along, and he did so. Taeyoung was now sitting by the wall, and Hyeongjun was on the outside of the table, but neither of them were too bothered by the fact they had essentially switched places. Taeyoung cleared his throat.

“Hey Jjun? Can you promise me something?”
Hyeongjun tilted his head to the side.
“Sure. What?”
Taeyoung held out his pinky.

“Promise you’ll let me pay next time we hang out?”
Hyeongjun laughed, and wrapped his pinky around Taeyoung’s.
“Okay, I promise. You better be taking me somewhere nice though.”
Taeyoung laughed too, biting his bottom lip.
“I will.”

Approaching the table, the cafe worker Hyeongjun had spoken to before was somehow carrying two cups and a plate. They gave both boys a polite smile, and placed down Taeyoung’s hot chocolate, Hyeongjun’s latte and a slice of cake. It was decorated with strawberries and fresh cream.
Hyeongjun thanked the employee, and looked at Taeyoung, who was grasping for his cup.

“Hey.” Hyeongjun grabbed his coffee, and held the mug up. Taeyoung paused, his drink already halfway to his mouth. Hyeongjun giggled. “Cheers?”
Taeyoung put his cup down momentarily, before lifting it back up and clinking it against Hyeongjun’s. He smiled.
“Cheers.”

Taeyoung took the first sip of his drink. The chocolate flavour was strong, and a feeling of warmth spread through his body almost immediately. He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but this feeling was fitting for being with someone as warm as Hyeongjun. (He would never say that out loud.)

“How’s your coffee?” He asked, watching as Hyeongjun pressed the cup to his lips and took a sip.
“It’s good! I definitely feel more awake now.” Hyeongjun joked. “How’s your hot chocolate?”
Taeyoung hummed.
“Sweet. Warm. It’s pretty good.”
“Can I try some?”
“Weren’t you making fun of me for ordering it before?”
Hyeongjun put a hand on his chest.
“I’ve had a change of heart. Now, please let me try some?”
Taeyoung groaned, as if giving Hyeongjun a sip of his drink was extremely difficult for him to do.
“Fine…”
Hyeongjun grinned at him, taking the cup from his hands.
“Thank you.”

Taeyoung watched in amusement as Hyeongjun seemed to cycle through about a hundred emotions after sipping the chocolate drink. He handed the mug back to Taeyoung, and smacked his lips a couple of times, trying to assess the taste.
“What do you think?”
“Well, you definitely weren’t lying when you said it was sweet, but I guess I’m not mad at it.”
Even though he said he didn’t mind it, Hyeongjun still drank some more coffee immediately afterwards. Taeyoung laughed.

“How about we have some cake instead?”
Taeyoung asked, grabbing the two forks which had been placed on the table before and passing one to Hyeongjun. Hyeongjun nodded enthusiastically, unable to answer verbally with a mouthful of coffee.

Taeyoung cut off a sliver of the cake and picked it up with his fork. He waited for Hyeongjun to do the same,
“How did you know I liked strawberries?”
Hyeongjun shrugged.
“Lucky guess.”

They held their forks out towards each other and tapped them together, making another toast but wordlessly this time, before taking their bites. The cake was slightly tart, but it was the kind of thing Taeyoung loved.
“That’s so good.” He commented.
“Right. I made a good choice.” Hyeongjun replied, already going in for more. Taeyoung turned to look at him, and let out a small laugh at the elder.

“Hey. You have cream on your face.”
Hyeongjun gasped.
“Do I?” He covered his mouth with his hand. Taeyoung just smiled at him.
“Yeah. Hold on, let me get it for you.”
Taeyoung leaned in, and wiped the dot of cream away with his thumb. He wasn’t sure if he was seeing things, but he thought Hyeongjun’s cheeks seemed more pink than usual.
“Thanks.” Hyeongjun said quietly.
“It’s okay.” Taeyoung replied, at the same volume.

Hyeongjun quickly moved his head away after that, and it was then that Taeyoung realised he had been holding his breath. He exhaled heavily.

Just breathe, Taeyoung. Just breathe.

After spending about an hour in the cafe talking and enjoying their drinks (which went cold after a while), Hyeongjun decided he should probably go home, and Taeyoung offered to walk him. They decided to go through the park, just because it was prettier than the streets, especially with the cherry blossoms.

It was a nice walk, but now they were standing outside of Hyeongjun’s house and the nice part was over.

“Well… This is me.” Hyeongjun sighed, standing in front of the driveway. “Thanks for hanging out with me today, Taeyoung. I really had a lot of fun.”
Taeyoung smiled.
“I had fun too. We should do it again soon.”
Hyeongjun bit his bottom lip.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Hyeongjun opened his arms, and Taeyoung walked into his embrace. They stayed that way for a little while, neither boy wanting to let go.

“Text me when you get home?” Hyeongjun mumbled into Taeyoung’s ear. Taeyoung nodded, as Hyeongjun pulled away. “Alright. I’ll see you later.” Hyeongjun said, walking up the driveway to the front door.
“Later, Jjun.” Taeyoung said, waving as the older opened the door but instead of going inside, he froze.

“Wait!” Hyeongjun exclaimed, running back down the path. He stopped in front of Taeyoung again.
“Huh? What’s wro-“
Putting his hands on Taeyoung’s shoulders, Hyeongjun pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, and ran back to the front door before Taeyoung could react.
“Bye Tae!” He yelled, retreating into his house.

Once Hyeongjun was inside, Taeyoung was left alone on the side of the road, grinning stupidly with a hand on his cheek. He wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but he wouldn’t mind if it happened again.

He could have stood there all day, reminiscing about the feeling of Hyeongjun’s lips against his cheek, but he knew he should probably head home himself. He sighed heavily, and started to walk.

Before he had even gotten out of Hyeongjun’s street, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out to take a look at it. His mom was calling. He answered it quickly.

“Hey mom, is everything okay?”
“Taeyoung, tell me you’re on your way home.”
“I am. Why?”
His mom sighed.
“We need to have a talk. So, hurry up, will you?”
“Oh, yeah, of course… Uh… what do we need to talk about?”
“Sweetie, I’d rather talk about it in person, if that’s okay? I’ll see you soon.”
“Oh, a-alright! Bye mom.“

Once his mom had hung up, Taeyoung stopped in his tracks.
“Fuck.” He whispered, shoving his phone back into his pocket and immediately speeding up his footsteps, almost running but not quite. He knew he was in trouble.
Luckily, his house wasn’t far from Hyeongjun’s, so he could manage to get home quickly without tiring himself out too much.

Catching his breath once he made it to his door, he mentally braced himself for whatever was to come once he walked in. As soon as he opened the door, his mom greeted him by coming out of the living room and standing in front of him. He smiled at her, a contrast to her unimpressed face.
“Hey, mom.” He said, nervousness probably noticeable in his voice. “So… You wanted to talk?”
She nodded.
“Sit down, sweetie.”

Taeyoung cautiously walked into the living room, and sat down on the couch. His mom sat next to him.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Did you lie to me, Taeyoung?”
His mom asked, her arms crossed.
“Uh, what do you-“
“I called Wonjin’s mom. She said she hasn’t seen you all day, but you told me you were going to Wonjin’s house.”
Taeyoung opened his mouth to defend himself, but nothing came out. He had been rumbled, and he knew it.
“Ah... Yeah. Look, I’m really sorry, mom.”

She exhaled, rubbing her nose bridge.
“Taeyoung, listen. You don’t need to tell me all of the details of where you went or who with. You’re growing up, and I know you don’t want me to know about everything, so I won’t pry. I would rather you just didn’t lie to me next time.“
Taeyoung nodded, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder.
“I know. I’m sorry. I promise, I won’t do it again.”
She smiled at him.
“Good. Don’t think you’re off the hook, though. You’re still getting your phone taken.”

Taeyoung’s eyes widened.
“What?”
His mom’s serious expression didn’t falter, and she held out her hand.
“I mean it, Taeyoung.”
Taeyoung groaned, accepting defeat.
“Okay, fine.” He mumbled, taking his phone out of his pocket and putting it into her open hand. His mom grinned.

“You’re lucky your father isn’t here, because he would say I’m going easy on you.” She waved the phone in front of him, before shoving it in her own pocket and standing up. “Now, do you want anything to eat?”
Taeyoung shrugged, leaning back on the couch.
“Yeah, sure.”

It had been two days since Hyeongjun had last heard from Taeyoung. He wasn’t sure if it was an overreaction to assume that he had done something wrong, but that’s what his mind went to.
It was a relief to know that he was alive, at least, since Hyeongjun could see him at work, but that just fueled the idea that Taeyoung was upset at him. He frowned. He was hoping they would get a chance to talk today, so he could find out if he did anything wrong and clear the air.

On Taeyoung’s end, he was also worried in case Hyeongjun was upset with him, but for a different reason. He knows it must seem like he had just been ignoring him. That’s why he was so eager to explain himself, and he was counting down the time until his break.

The second his dad told him to take a few minutes he ripped his apron off and said he was just going for a quick walk. Once he was sure his parents were both busy, he ran across the street to the Songs’ restaurant.

Hearing the bell above the door ring, Hyeongjun’s customer service mode automatically turned itself on.
“Hello, welcome to- Oh, Taeyoung!” His tone of voice changed like the flip of a switch when he realised who he was talking to. He ran out from behind the counter and threw his arms around Taeyoung. Taeyoung chuckled, hugging him back.
“Hello to you too.”

Hyeongjun pouted.
“I was worried about you, you know. And I thought you were upset with me.”
Taeyoung let go of the hug and stepped back so he could see Hyeongjun’s face clearly.
“Why would I be upset with you?”
Hyeongjun shrugged, looking down at his feet.

“Well… You haven’t been replying to my texts and I thought that after the other night, maybe you were-“
“No, no, Hyeongjun, let me explain. I haven’t been ignoring you on purpose. My mom took my phone.”
Hyeongjun’s eyes widened.

“Shit… You got in trouble?”
Taeyoung nodded, and he noticed the way Hyeongjun’s face dropped.
“It wasn’t your fault though, don’t worry. I’m just glad you’re not mad at me.”
“Me too.”
Hyeongjun chuckled.

“Oh, by the way, my parents are out of town for a few days, so I was wondering if you wanted to come over sometime this week?” Hyeongjun asked, putting his hands in his pocket. Taeyoung nodded.
“Oh, sure! I could text you when I get my phone back? And we can figure it out.”
Hyeongjun smiled.
“That’s cool with me!”

The door’s bell jingled again, and this time it was an actual customer.
“Ah, I better-“
“Oh, right, yeah. I should probably get back anyway. But, I’ll see you later?”
“For sure! Later, Tae.”
Hyeongjun ran back behind the counter, apologising to the customer before asking what they wanted, and Taeyoung made his way back to his own restaurant.

“Oh good, Taeyoung, you’re back. Can you man the front for a while?” His dad asked the second he walked through the door. Taeyoung shrugged.
“Sure, I don’t mind.” He replied, going behind the counter. I can see Hyeongjun better this way, he thought.

He smiled to himself, as he saw the blonde boy realising he was there and waving at him, and he waved back.

Later in the day, Taeyoung was resting in his room after work, watching a video on his phone and shoving some chips in his mouth. Just as the video was just getting interesting, he heard a knock on his door.
“Come in!” He said as he sat up, and his dad entered the room.
“Son, do you have a minute?”
“Yeah… Sure.” He slowly stood from his bed, brushing off a few crumbs, and followed his dad down the stairs.

He was pretty sure he was going to get another ‘talk’, only this time he has no idea what he did. Still, he gritted his teeth and tried to get ready for what could be coming.

“Everything okay, guys?” Taeyoung asked, walking into the living room and seeing his mom already in there.
“Can we talk to you, sweetie?”
“Again?” He sighed. “What did I do this time?”
“Taeyoung, just listen…” His dad spoke up, gesturing for Taeyoung to sit with them on the couch.
“Yeah?”
He could tell from the way his parents were hesitating that whatever they wanted to say wasn’t going to be good.

“We’ve been thinking…” His mom began, looking to his dad to continue.
“You haven’t been working very hard recently. You haven’t been doing as much as you usually would.”
Taeyoung scoffed in disbelief.
“What?”
His mom reached out to grab his hands.
“Taeyoungie, listen, we’re not trying to upset you or anything. It’s just… We both think you haven’t been focused. Like, something is distracting you. So…”
“We’re thinking about letting you go, and hiring somebody else.”
Taeyoung’s face fell.

“Are you serious? You’re firing me from the family business?”
His dad exhaled heavily.
“Taeyoung…”
Taeyoung stood up.
“No, that’s fine, by all means, do whatever you want.”
“Taeyoung, listen.”
“As if that place will run without me! I do all of your dirty work, all of the shit you don’t wanna do yourself!”
“Taeyoung!”
“It’s good to know that, as my parents, you have no consideration for my feelings at all. I’m just somebody for you to work to death, right?” He chuckled bitterly.
“Taeyoung, please.” His mom said, desperation in her tone.

Shaking his head, Taeyoung stood up and walked out of the room.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t really wanna stand here and listen to you tell me I’m bad at my job. I’ve been helping you out since I was little but now, when I’ve actually been feeling happy recently, none of that matters anymore.”
“Taeyoung, please, that’s not what we’re saying!” His mom yelled.
His dad followed him out of the room, and saw him grabbing a coat from the coat stand.

“Where do you think you’re going?”
“A friend’s.” He explained, shoving his coat on and flinging the door open. “And don’t try to stop me, please.” He gave his dad a (fake) smile, and stormed out of the house.
“Taeyoung! Kim Taeyoung, get back here!”
Taeyoung didn’t reply, and kept walking. His dad yelled a few more times, but he tuned him out and continued his stride.

Eventually, his dad stopped calling out to him, the burst of adrenaline started to subside and the reality of the situation started to sink in. He tried his hardest not to let the sadness win but he couldn’t stop the stray tears that fell.
And as if the universe was feeling the way he was feeling, rain started to fall too. Taeyoung couldn’t think of a more cliché situation than crying alone in the rain; it was almost comical.

While he had an idea of where he was going, he wasn’t fully sure if he would be welcome at such short notice, he just wanted to get away. If he ends up having to go back home and face the consequences, then that’s what he’ll do, but he at least wanted to try and go somewhere else for now.

As the rain started to pick up, Taeyoung began running rather than walking, and sooner than expected he got to where he wanted to be. Exhaling heavily, he rang the doorbell. Moments later, the door opened.

“Hel- Taeyoung? What are you doing here?” Hyeongjun stood in the doorway, eyes full of worry. Taeyoung smiled at him as best he could.
“Hey. I know we didn’t arrange for me to come over but, um… Can I please come in?”
Hyeongjun immediately nodded and stepped aside so Taeyoung could enter.
“Yeah… Come on, let’s sit down.”

Hyeongjun grabbed Taeyoung’s hand, and led him to the living room and sat down with him.
“What happened? Why aren’t you home?”
“I… Got into a bit of an argument with my parents. Or, well, I was yelling at them more than they were at me but… Still. I just walked out.”

Hyeongjun tutted, squeezing Taeyoung’s hand which he was still holding onto.
“Okay, well, while that seems to be a bit dramatic, I’m happy you’re here rather than being somewhere else doing something stupid.”
Taeyoung laughed.
“Isn’t everything I do stupid?”
Hyeongjun grinned, shaking his head.
“Not everything, but… Most things.” He joked, pulling Taeyoung into a hug.
The warmth of Hyeongjun’s embrace made Taeyoung feel like he was melting, and he didn’t want to let go.

“I’m glad I have you, Hyeongjun.” Taeyoung mumbled, his heart speaking for him before his brain could intervene. Hyeongjun’s breath hitched.
“I’m glad I have you too.” He replied, separating from the hug. “But really, Tae… Are you okay?” He asked, voice gentle.
Taeyoung shrugged.
“I don’t know. I think I’m just… Upset. I just feel like I’m not appreciated.”
Hyeongjun frowned, wrapping his arm around Taeyoung’s and resting his head on his shoulder. Taeyoung lay his head on top of Hyeongjun’s.
“Well… I appreciate you.”
Taeyoung chuckled.
“It feels like you’re the only person who does.”
“Don’t say that. We both know it’s not true.” Hyeongjun commented, gently playing with Taeyoung’s fingers. Taeyoung let out a sigh. Hyeongjun’s presence alone made him feel better. He lifted his head up, so he could look at Hyeongjun in the eyes.

“Jjun, can I tell you something?” Hyeongjun sat up too.
“Of course. Anything.”
“I… I really like you. And, I don’t want to have to hide that because of… Some old beef our parents have. I guess part of why I’m so angry at my dad is because of that too. Because we have to hide the fact that we’re friends in order to keep them happy. But… I like you too much to want to hide.”
Hyeongjun bit his bottom lip, smiling.
“Taeyoung… I like you too.”
Taeyoung shook his head.
“No, but I mean… Not just in a friend way.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Taeyoung’s eyes widened.
“…Oh.”

Hyeongjun giggled.
“I thought it was obvious that I liked you? I mean, I literally kissed you the other day.”
Taeyoung rubbed the back of his neck.
“Yeah but, I didn’t know if you did it in a platonic way because it was only a cheek kiss.”
Hyeongjun jokingly rolled his eyes.
“You’re such an idiot. You’re lucky you’re cute.” He said, laughing slightly in between words.

The next few moments were silent, with both boys just looking at each other with bright eyes.
“So, we both like each other, now what?” Taeyoung asked, hesitantly interlocking his fingers with Hyeongjun’s. Hyeongjun’s lips curled into a smile.
“I think… We should forget about what our parents say. Let’s give us a try.”
Taeyoung raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“That sounds good to me. If they have a problem, then… Fuck them.”
Hyeongjun nodded.
“Yeah. Fuck them.”

The room fell silent once again, but Taeyoung thought the silence was comfortable. His eyes began to wander, and eventually they landed on Hyeongjun’s lips.
Although, apparently he wasn’t as slick as he thought, since Hyeongjun caught him a moment later.
“You know… Instead of staring longingly at my lips, you could just kiss me.”

Taeyoung could feel his face warming up, but the room was dim so hopefully Hyeongjun wouldn’t notice.
“Well… Would you let me kiss you?” He asked, trying to hide how nervous he actually was.
“I was hoping you would, actually.”
Neither Taeyoung nor Hyeongjun himself was sure where his sudden boldness had come from, but Taeyoung wasn’t complaining at all.

Pushing away all of his worries, Taeyoung leaned in closer to Hyeongjun, close enough that their noses were touching. Hyeongjun placed both of his hands on Taeyoung’s shoulders and closed the small gap between them.

It would be cheesy of him to say, but Taeyoung thought that the initial feeling of Hyeongjun’s lips against his was like an electric shock. Like fireworks going off in his body. He put a hand on the side of Hyeongjun’s face, deepening the kiss more.

Pulling away after a minute, Hyeongjun rested his forehead against Taeyoung’s. They both laughed nervously, not too sure what to say.
“Um… Should I call your parents and let them know you’re safe? And then we can go cuddle and watch a movie or something?”
Taeyoung nodded.
“Sure.”
“Okay.” Hyeongjun whispered, standing up to grab his phone. He came back a moment later, asking Taeyoung to punch the number in, and then walked out of the room to make the call.

Once he was out of the room, Taeyoung lay back on the couch. He put his face in his hands, silently screaming in an attempt to calm himself down.

He looked over his shoulder at Hyeongjun in the hallway, phone held up to his ear. He mouthed the words ‘it’s ringing’, before clearing his throat and beginning to speak.

“Hello, is this Mr. Kim? Yeah, this is Hyeongjun. Song Hyeongjun. I just wanted to let you know that Taeyoung is here, and he’s safe. He’s staying here for the night.”

Taeyoung smiled.
He likes Hyeongjun so much, and he’s glad they’re not gonna hide anymore.