"Guys ! Finally ! Yuta was almost dying of hunger." Doyoung nagged at them as they joined their friends' table in the cafeteria.

"It's only 12:32." Taeyong looked at his watch.

"You could've just eaten, no need to wait for us." Johnny shrugged. "Anyway, Ten, the guys. Guys, Ten."

"Johnny, why are you always like this !" Doyoung whined. "Anyway, Yuta and Kun, and I'm Doyoung. Nice to meet you Ten."

"Hi~ !" Ten waved at them.

Taeyong ate in silence and only listened to his friends' conversation without participating. As usual.

"So your family just moved in..?" Yuta asked between bites.

"Hm hm... For my father's job. It's a little overwhelming.."

"I understand, we used to move all the time because of my mother." Kun commented.

As they were all telling stories about moving in and out, Taeyong felt uneasy.

Usually, they would just talk about their last nights out, the girls they had made out with. They usually didn't talk about their past and their parents' work and how they had been dragged from cities to cities all their childhood before finally settling there.

The only positive point he could see in here was that Ten was from the same social class as them. Which didn't change the fact that he was a stranger.

And Taeyong didn't like meeting strangers.

"So, where are we going this Friday night ?" Yuta asked, his mouth full.

"Wherever we can find alcohol and good music: at the usual place." Johnny shrugged. "The others will be there."

"Oh, our Tae will see Chaeyeon then."

Taeyong frowned.

"She'll be super happy to see you..." Kun nudged him.

"Who's Chaeyeon ?" Ten asked innocently.

"Taeyong's girlfriend." Yuta added.

Taeyong's eyes widened. "She's not !"

"Not yet." Johnny raised his eyebrows.

"Oh come on Tae ! We know you like her too, why don't you just man up and get it over with ?!" Kun said.

Taeyong's face was composed, but his mind wasn't. At all.

He didn't like to talk about girls with his friends because they were always acting as if they knew what was in his head when they knew nothing. Taeyong wasn't the kind of guy to talk about his relationships, even less so in front of a stranger.

"Eunjin will be there too, do you want to talk about it Kun ?" He said, his voice dark.

His friend huffed but didn't add anything.

Surprisingly enough, Ten laughed. "You guys are funny !"

-

"Taeyong, you're here honey !" He heard his mother calling him as he came back from college.

At least now that he was at home, everything was normal again.

After lunch, they had had another class that he shared only with Ten. He had pretended to be too focused on the class to talk, but he just didn't want to speak with the other boy. Most definitely because he wouldn't have known what to say in the first place.

It was 17:35. The show he was usually watching with his mother was about to start. Just two more minutes of useless commercials.

He sat down on the couch next to her.

"Your father called this morning as usual."

Taeyong nodded, spacing out a little.

"He congratulates you on your grades. He's satisfied with your college." She added.

Taeyong hummed but didn't answer anything. Not that his father could change anything about it, he was living 1000 kilometers away.

Taeyong's father had been the head of a branch for two years but had spared his family from moving country. He was living there on his own and was only coming back for Christmas, spring and summer holidays.

"And Seunghee is coming this weekend." He heard his mother say.

His sister who was four years older than him was coming back from her student residence twice a month. This weekend was no exception.

"Cool."

-

The rest of the week passed by relatively normally except for the fact that Ten was really talkative. So Taeyong couldn't even pretend he wasn't there. He had all his classes with him and the boy always had something to say or to comment on.

And Taeyong couldn't really figure out if this annoyed him or not. On one hand, he didn't even have to open his mouth and was spared the pain of conversing; on the other hand, he still felt awkward hanging out with someone he didn't know.

He had listened to most of Ten's blabbering: the boy was like an open book. But still.

That Friday afternoon they had finished earlier as often. Taeyong was with his friends outside of the main building when his phone rang. It was his sister.

"Yeah Seunghee ?"

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