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"Kageo xiongdi?"
Thaddeus calls out, he was searching for his friend through the blind woman's hideout, he saw earlier how the calmer one of the group suddenly standed up and walked away, even tho he didnt give it so much thought about it, a few seconds after he felt like there was something wrong.
"did something happen? he doesnt usually do this..." He stops, looking at the bathroom's door, taking a bit of courage.
"wait a second, what if im being dramatic? maybe he's just pooping, i guess i was-" His thought gets cut off by a soft, tiny sniffle, it was muffled by the door, and the owner of the small sob tried their best not to be loud, as if he was trained to.
His hand curls into a fist, then gently knocks on the door, he knew that behind the door might be hundreds of possibilities of what could be happening, but he knews that, behind it, there was a broken person, crying.
"Kageo xiongdi, are you here? Are you okay?" His voice came out dearly soft, only for him to hear.
From behind the door, he clears his throat. — "Yeah i uh.. i'm okay." – Thaddeus heard it, he knew his friend wasn't clearly doing okay, he rests his hand over the door.
— "Can i come in?" – once again speaking softly, as if he was talking to a baby cat trying not to scare it away.
1... 5... 8..... 12 seconds pass, as someone who has the reaction speed of 0 seconds, it felt like an eternity, until he finally heard it.
— "uhh... sure, you can come in..." – After hearing the holy words of permission, he pushes the door open, finding Kageo curled up like a ball sitting on the floor, knees close to his chest, arms hugging them and head buried between them, as if he's trying to hide from the world becoming smaller and smaller, his eyes looked up at Thaddeus, his dark brown eyes were red and coated with glassy tears that any second now would escape from those eyes.
Thaddeus eyes slightly widen, he strades inside kneeling in front of him. "What happened, Kageo?" He softly whispers, seeing the older man in such delicate state was a shock, but he knew how to deal with delicate feelings, kind of.
"oh.. i was just, thinking... the past and stuff... you know, about... her." he emphasized the word 'her', it hurt, it stabbed him. "oh... i'm sorry... do you uhm, you want a hug? you know i don't know how to comfort people hehe..." Thaddeus tried to light up the mood with a small giggle. "sorry, that was lame-" Kageo rumbly chuckled. "it's okay, it's okay! you dumdum..." he softly mumbled, his deep voice sounded honey-like, it was almost angelical.
He uncurled, grabbing Thaddeus from his jackets sleeve hem, quietly pulling him closer. It seems that Thaddeus neurons connected, finally realizing what the taller man wanted to do, leaning closer, and wrapping his arms around his body, and so did Kageo.
They were hugging, it was a warm, cozy one, as if they were made for eachother, to be with the other.
Even though they could stay like this forever, Kageo's breathing evening out, so now their breathing froms could be in sync, Kageo hiding his face against Thaddeus neck and the previous mentioned one's head was tilt and leaning to Kageo's back head... Well, that was until they got interrupted.
The bathroom door swung open, and long, gray silver-ish hairs peeked out, making the two younger ones get surprised and slightly jump.
"Ah- uncle simon..." Thaddeus moved slightly away from the hug, now looking at the new figure. "What happened to you two, huh? we were in the middle of discussing our plan!! can't you see you two are really-!" the old man said, getting stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"geez, let them be, Simon, i'll explain it again later..." Peter sighed, shaking his head. "You two, don't take too much time."
"... yes, sungu xiongdi!"
"yes master, sorry master..."
"but you two bette-" Simon got dragged out by Peter, who also decided to shut the door again, leaving the two younger men alone.
"that was..."
"... randomly stupid?"
"that's what i wanted to say!!" the redhead laughed, as he leaned back in the hug, and the blond softly squeezed, also leaning back in Thaddeus neck crack, gently inhaling his aroma. "Wait wait! that tickles! haha!" The redhead giggled, and Kageo now inhaled roughly, teasing Thaddeus. "Agh! wait! hahaha!!" He was now laughing loudly.
"Hmhm~ sorry not sorry.." Kageo said cockingly, to which Thaddeus replied "when are you even sorry..? remind me again a time please?" sarcastically.
Kageo looked at Thaddeus eyes, even if his eyes were slightly red from the silent crying from minutes ago, they were shiny, something like love or adoration clinged into them.
"Are you doing better now?"
"Nop, can we stay like this a bit more, pleaseeee~??"
"ha! what a handsome liar you are, huh?"
"am i handsome?" he mumbled, his eyes slightly widened, he looked blissful.
"i'll just say i wont explain further, you should know it." he winked, pulling away from the hug and getting up from the floor, just as Kageo was about to get up by his own, Thaddeus stretched out his hand, which he grabbed, getting pulled up and standing.
"you sure you're okay? i mean like, really." the redhead questioned one last time, grabbing the doors handle, looking behind at Kageo. "Yup, i'm doing better... uhm, thank you, Thaddeus."
Thaddeus radiantly smiled, "Anytime for you!" He opened the door and they left.
Kageo now had mixed feelings about Thaddeus, after this, they still hanged out, teased eachother, laughed, just them.
Is it really okay for me to... love again? am i even allowed to?
Oh, Yuika... what would you think about me now, that i'll grow from my feelings towards you? that... maybe these feelings now can be for anyone, or maybe... to that specific someone... Would you hate me, or would you accept it?
Ah, i must sound pathetic now, thinking about my dead crush, now that i can have the chance to love, once again...
Oh, Thaddeus... do you think i'm pathetic?