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Ivan lightly hummed a tune as he strolled into the convince store. His loose curls and jolly smile slightly hidden by a mask and hoodie. He paused in the prepared foods section and grabbed a chicken soup with some rice, throat lozenges, and a ginseng drink. He checked out and headed straight to the address he had pulled up on his phone.
Ivan had gotten pretty close with his sunbae on the set of Alien Stage. The two had starred together and done quite a bit of promotional material. During this time, Ivan’s feeling for Till only grew more each day. His sunbae had always put a wall between himself and work, trying his best to keep things professional.
But Ivan felt rather proud that lately Till has been more comfortable with him and the rest of the cast. Sure he was falling pretty hard for the senior, but he didn’t want to mess things up so he’s been trying to take his time getting to know Till.
All that said, Ivan could only hold out for so long, which leads him to now. Bringing Till sunbae some soup and medicine since he’s sick and Ivan knows he lives alone. Sunbae gave Ivan his address just in case. When he first got it Ivan tried to hide how excited he was that Till trusted him enough for this. But he’s sure he made a fool of himself in front of the older man.
Ivan hadn’t been here before, but when he heard from Till's manager that he was taking a few days off because of a bad flu, he immediately rushed to help. He tried texting his sunbae but he wasn't answering.
That probably meant his flu was really bad right? He stood at the condo door and rang the bell. Waiting a few moments before ringing again. No answer.
Ivan started getting worried. He checked his texts. Delivered, not read. His mind started playing the worst case scenarios. What if Till was passed out on the floor? What if Ivan needed to take him to a hospital?
“Sunbae? Please open up, it’s Ivan. Are you ok?” He knocked. Nothing. No shuffling sounds.
He was about to knock again when the door unlatched and an older woman opened it. She tilted her head in curiosity. Her hair was light colored but it helped blend in any gray hairs. Her eyes though, they were teal. Ivan recognized them as the same teal orbs he had fallen in love with.
“I’m so sorry, did you need something?” She asked, concerned.
Ivan pulled his mask down. “Oh, uh. Hello ma’am, my names Ivan. I heard Till sunbae was sick so I got some food and-”
“Oh, you’re the Ivan my boy has mentioned so much!” She grinned. Her eyes formed light crows feet. “He mentioned a cute younger co star and that must be you!”
Ivan went pink in the face. “C-cute?” He stammered.
“Well yes, just look at you! Oh do come in.” She hurried Ivan inside the spacious condo.
“Thank you for coming all the way out here to see my Tilly, He’s so lucky to have someone else here.'“
“Of course ma'am. Um.” Ivan bowed.
“I’m Io, Till’s mom. That boy never calls, and when he did turns out he’s sick.”
“Nice to meet you miss Io. I'm Ivan, Till’s uh.” Ivan paused.
Just a “co star” felt weird to say since he was bringing him food personally. But friend. Till never said anything about them being friends. Mentor? No that’s even weirder. Before he could make up his mind, Io clapped her hands together.
“Oh I see. Bringing him soup and medicine. That boy never lets anyone know when he’s struggling. But if you're here that surely means you’re his boyfriend right?” She tilts her head.
Ivan’s mind goes blank and he find himself running on autopilot. “Um, yes actually.” He lies. “It’s pretty new though, and we’re both actors so we like to keep it under wraps.”
“Of course, don’t worry about me sweetie I don’t go talking to just anyone about my son.” She smiles. Her kind face suddenly fills Ivan with guilt. He panicked. And now, like an idiot, he silently followed her to the kitchen
"Thank you again for bringing food. Till can get so engrossed in what he’s working on he forgets to take care of himself. it’s a miracle he actually called me.” She smiled as she unpacked.
“It’s no problem. I heard from his manager that he was sick and i just wanted to make sure he was ok.” Ivan laughed.
“He didn’t tell you? His own partner?”
“Uh.” Ivan once again panicked. “Like you said, he can get busy and he doesn’t remember to take breaks. I’m sure he just didn’t want to worry anyone.”
“Still you’re his boyfriend, he should let you know too.” She pouted.
“It’s alright. I'm just happy to drop anything off.”
“Oh nonsense. Why don’t you go check on him for me, I'll put away the food.”
“Sure thing.” Ivan gets up and head down the corridor. When he gets to the end he gently opened the door. Till’s room is relatively clean. Clothes thrown over a chair or in his laundry hamper. The place is surprisingly minimal but still reads very Till to him. Little things like different books and scripts left on his desk or a bottle of nice cologne on the vanity.
In the middle of the room is a large bed with a lump of blankets on it. When Ivan approached and peeled back the covers, Till was inside. He really didn't look ok. He put his hand to his forehead and felt he was burning up.
“Has his fever gone down?” Ivan hears form the doorway.
“No, he’s burning up.” He frowns, not sure what to do.
“Ivan sweetie, why don’t you go get a bowl of ice water and a washcloth?”
“Ah, yes ma'am.” He starts to get up from the bed.
“Mom is fine.” She smiles.
Ivan’s mouth gapes like a fish before he embarrassingly shuffles his way back to the kitchen.
When he comes back Till is revealed from the covers as Io feels his head. He quickly sits by him again and wrings out the towel before setting wiping away his sweat and cooling his skin.
“There we go, you’re doing great.” Io beams.
Ivan continues as she brushes Till’s hair out of his face. “You know when he was little he would always get these really bad nose bleeds. Scared me half to death the first few times but gradually we got used to it. He’d always say he was fine, just a little faint. In the end it didn’t change anything but I still worried every time.” She chuckles at the memory.
“That sounds like him. He always makes sure that other’s aren’t worried about him. But that kind of makes me more worried about him you know?”
Io nods.
“On set he keeps his distance but you can tell when he interacts with others that he’s really a good guy. Like the other day he was just hanging out and our costars came up to ask him for some advice. I know a veteran actor like him doesn’t need to help out us rookies but he still took the time and went over the other’s performances and what they could improve. He was really nice about it too. I just felt to lucky to have him there with us.”
Ivan grinned and closed his eyes, remembering how cool his senior looked. Io’s expression was as happy as could be hearing her son being praised like this.
“I’m so glad to hear. Till never had much trouble with acting. I had him in commercials since he could barely walk. But I sometimes worried if that would alienate him from others. He’s so independent and I tried to keep him grounded. But that meant that sometimes he would shut himself out. Of course he always has me but I was worried about him being able to make friends.” She looks up at Ivan. “So I'm glad to hear Till has some good company.”
“Of course, we all respect sunb-uh Till a lot. He’s helped me so much during filming.”
“Oh that’s right, how exactly did he manage to snag himself such a cutie?” Io leans over to pinch his cheek a bit.
Ivan panics for a second before going with his gut. “Well, we did have a kiss scene together. admittedly I messed up big time. I was so nervous I kept messing up the scene. It’s like one of the really important scenes so I knew I had to do well but my nerves got the better of me. After I messed up like six times in a row Till pulled me aside. I thought he was going to scold me or sure. But he told me that everyone makes mistakes, and that I wouldn’t have been chosen if people didn’t think I could do this role. After that I totally nailed it, and then, uh, I asked him to coffee sometime. To thank him of course.”
Ivan’s face got soft. That wasn't a total lie. Till really did help him, and he did ask Till to coffee. But he failed to tell Io that it was just grabbing something to go and they never talked about dating.
“That’s wonderful! I’m sure everyone saw how hard you were working. Till may seem a bit rough or distant sometimes but he really does appreciate those who work hard. I’m sure he saw that drive in you!”
Ivan relaxes a bit as he listens to more stories of Till when he was younger. They chat away quietly as the subject of their conversation quietly rests.
“That’s too funny. I wonder if we were the same age would Till and I be friends?” Ivan laughed , then became more quiet. “It would’ve been nice to have someone like him around.”
Io rubs his shoulder. “Oh sweetie. I’m sure Till would’ve loved you growing up.”
Till then starts to move. He groans as he pushes himself up. Io moves to help him.
“Hi honey, how are you feeling?”
“Thirsty.”
Ivan reaches over and hands him a glass of water. “Here.”
“Ivan? What are you doing here?”
"I heard you were sick and you weren’t answering my messages. So I decided to drop by.” Ivan began to fidget.
“You didn’t need to. I’m grown man, I can manage.”
“Till! That’s no way to treat your boyfriend!” Io scolds.
“Huh?” Till looks at her. Then looks at a sweaty Ivan, nervously avoiding eye contact.
“Yeah ok, thanks for coming Ivan. Sorry I didn't call sooner.” Till glanced at him, clearly saying “we’ll talk about this later”.
“You must be hungry, Ivan why don’t you get some of the porridge you bought.”
“Yes mom.” Till cocked an eyebrow at him as he hurriedly left to the kitchen.
Once he left Till turned to his mother. “So you met Ivan huh?”
“Yes. He’s such a nice young man. I didn't expect him to be that much younger than you.”
“Mom please.”
“Why didn’t you say you two started dating? You’ve told me about him before, there’s nothing to hide.”
Till sighed. “Come on mom, you know how the paparazzi can be.” Till thought for a second, trying to gauge how much Ivan told her. “Well known actor Till snatches up alien stage costar almost a decade younger than himself? That’s bound to stir up trouble.”
Io just smiled. “I suppose you’re right. But in the future remember to tell him when you’re sick. I’m happy you finally called me but Ivan can probably make it here sooner than I can. He really does admire you, you know? So treat him well.”
Till stares down at his hands. “ Yeah, I will.”
Ivan came shuffling down the hallway again with a tray of porridge and ginseng tea.
“Here you go, it’s just store bought but I hope it’s fine.”
“It looks perfect, thanks love.” Ivan squeaked a little at the nickname.
The three of them sat together for awhile longer. All the while Till was eyeing Ivan up, seeing if he would slip. He didn’t, and after a while Till’s fever went down so Io decided to take her leave.
“It was so good to finally meet you Ivan. Make sure Tilly eats all the porridge. Let’s have dinner sometime ok?” She hugs Ivan and he hesitantly squeezes back.
“Of course mother. Please let me know if anything comes up.”
Till rubs her shoulder to avoid passing on his flu. “Thanks for coming mom, I'll call you later ok.”
“Sure thing sweetie, feel better ok?” She waves off and walks to the apartment stairs.
Ivan is almost ready to make a run for it when he feels Till's hand on his shoulder. “Care to explain why my mother thinks we’re dating?”
Ivan doesn’t want to turn around. He can feel the judgmental stare boring into the back of his head as he doesn’t dare face him.
“Uh, I thought I'd be funny?”
“Nice try, but you’re an actor not a comedian.”
“I was clout chasing?”
“You’re already famous. Try again.”
“Sorry to spring it on you but I was actually hoping you’d be my plus one to a friends wedding.”
“That one might be believable if you thought I was an idiot.”
Ivan finally turns around, his face is beet red. “I’m so sorry sunbae, I panicked! When I opened the door your mom was right there and I didn’t know what to say and she was being so nice. I wanted to bring you porridge but in front of your mom it looked like we’re really close but I know we’re not. I’m so sorry for overstepping, your mom is just so kind and she kept talking and I didn’t know if I should correct her and-”
Till finally put a hand over his mouth to stop the blubbering.
“Ivan, relax, I'm not mad ok?”
“You're not?”
“No. Just a little confused but I get it, you do tend to panic. I’m not sure what I'll say to her later but, don’t worry I'll take care of it.”
Ivan stood with his head hung low. “I’m really sorry, I didn't mean to over step like that.”
Till stood, watching Ivan’s form shrink. “You know, I don't hate it.”
“What?”
“I mean, you are pretty cute I guess.”
Ivan’s eyes went wide.
"Listen Ivan, I'll be honest. I know whatever this is, isn’t just friendship. I feel weird calling myself just your senior since, I find myself wanting more.” Till shifts his feet and crosses his arms. “You know, it’s been a long time since I've dated anyone. But I'm willing to try if you’re open to it.” Till pulled at the sweater wrapped around himself.
Ivan opened and closed his mouth a few times, clearly not knowing what to say. “Um yes. I’d be honored.”
Till started laughing, eventually leading to a coughing fit.
“Sunbae!”
Till hits his chest to try and stop. “Looks like I still need my ‘boyfriend’s’ help. Will you make me some tea?” He grins.
Ivan blushes and hides his face in shame as Till lead him back into the his apartment to the kitchen. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”