5

Taehyun was lying down on the living room floor, gazing at the ceiling, thinking about what he did earlier that evening. It had been so long that he hugged somebody. Mino’s body was warm, or rather hot, maybe because he said he had not recover from his illness.  Anyway, It felt good and comfortable. He rolled himself on the carpet like a lazy cat, could not stop himself from thinking whatever he was up to.

While Taehyun was deep in his thought, Donghyun came in the room and sat on the couch, watched whatever it was on the television. Taehyun glanced at his brother then sat up, “Hey, you, come here.” He called his brother and hugged him as soon as they were close enough. “What are you doing?” The little brother was startled and confused by his strange big brother’s sudden action.

“Shut up. I’m  experimenting something.” The younger one didn’t understand at all, but he never understand his brother anyway so he just let Taehyun hug him like that.

It’s different…

They were like that for a few seconds, he let go of his brother and continued what was in his thought. Taehyun thought about all the possibility that made the two boys’ hugs different. Donghyun just sat there next to his brother, looking at him spacing out like he always did, but somehow he look more lively than he ever was.

“Did something happen?” Taehyun had always been quiet and gloomy even with his family, he didn’t talk much and spent most time alone in his room or outside. Donghyun was surprised to see his big brother being in the living room, talking happily with their mother and grandmother.

“What?” Taehyun had no idea what ‘something’ was, everything was normal as he could recall. “I don’t know, you look different. Did something good happen recently?” Taehyun frowned and thought hard about what happened in his life recently, and Mino was what came into his mind. “No, nothing.”, he decided to kept that to himself, he couldn't find a reason why neither. Donghyun was staring at him, of course he could sense his big brother was hiding something. Taehyun could feel his brother’s stare so he quickly stood up and went into his room.

-----

The next day, Taehyun suddenly felt bad about what he did to Bobby after seeing him sadly apologized for what he had done to bother Taehyun,and also reluctantly mentioned Mino,  but Taehyun really didn't want the guy to follow him around so he kept ignoring him. Since Bobby agreed to backed off a bit so everything was better for him.

During lunch break, Taehyun was alone as usual, sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, his right  ear plugged with an earphone listening to the songs he liked. Suddenly someone came and sat opposite to him without asking. Taehyun raised his head to see who was that and about to get mad at whoever that was, for ruining his solitude.

"Hey, where's Bobby?" That someone asked happily, sure he was cheerful as always. He was Mino, and seeing the older boy’s bright smile made Taehyun felt happy but angry at the same time because of his question. Taehyun looked straight at him, scowling, "Why are you asking about him?" His cute eyebrows risen up to tell that he was not happy to hear that name.

"Okay, okay. I won't ask about him anymore." Mino chuckled then smiled his brightest smile and started eating his lunch. Taehyun took one bite of Mino's salad without asking, like it was a normal thing he always did but it was Mino's first time experiencing it, so he looked surprised but happy at the same time, to see more about the boy.

Taehyun was in a good mood afterwards. He kept his earphones into his pocket and rested his chin on his hand,  gave all his attention to listened to what Mino was saying, about his friends, music, art, and many other things. Taehyun liked listening to whatever his friend said, maybe because of his deep voice which he thought it was y, he knew it sounded strange to say this but he had to admit it, Song Mino did have a listenable voice.

"Hyung, are you free this Sunday?" Taehyun could see a small smirk on Mino's face then changed into his normal expression quickly. "Yeah. Why?"

"Do you want to go to an art gallery with me? I found out about this exhibition and it was interesting.", he explained as he showed the detail about the exhibition on his phone to the other boy. Mino was too excited to read whatever was on the screen. He nodded after a few seconds. "Of course!" He answered loudly like a kid who just received a biggest prize, his cheeks became pink. Taehyun smiled, looking at the happy giant child in front of him, "You don't have to be so loud. Did you even read about it? Are you sure you want to go with me?" Mino just nodded crazily to whatever Taehyun said, he didn’t care at all about the exhibition, he just wanted to spend time with the one he liked.

"Okay, then see you on Sunday, 9am at the bakery?" Taehyun straighten his back, smiling. He was happy to finally had someone to go there with him. "Okay!" Mino answered innocently. Taehyun felt like gently patting the older boy's head.

"Oh, and Hyung, I remember you promised me you would draw me another drawing." The younger boy suddenly remembered what the older boy told him last time they were in the bakery together.

"Ah~ Taehyun-ah, I could give you like a million now." Mino laughed. "Then you should do as you say, Hyung." Taehyun teased back.

All the students slowly left the cafeteria, also Mino and Taehyun, who was still talking during their way back to their classes.

"See you on Sunday." Mino said to the boy in front of his class, with a smile that never leave his face when he was in front of the younger boy. He patted on Taehyun's head gently, secretly feeling the softness of his brown hair. Taehyun said nothing but a simple nod. He could feel that people were looking at them. Well, the gay rumors were still around and both of them just agreed to ignore it, since people never listen to what they say anyway.

"Don't be late, or I'll go wake you up myself." Mino froze after he was teased by Taehyun, then his face went red. Taehyun could sense something, but he wasn't sure what was it. Mino stuttered something Taehyun couldn't understand then he went into his classroom before Taehyun could say anything more and also went back to his class.

Taehyun wasn't in the mood to study at all. All he could think about was what should he wear on Sunday, or how Mino usually dress when he hung out with his friends?

Probably hip-hop clothes.

That was Taehyun's conclusion about Mino's fashion. He pictured the older boy wearing oversized hoodie and pants, large golden necklace and a beanie, or something familiar. But he probably looked good no matter what he wears, since he had good figure and he was handsome too. Taehyun spent his time during his class picturing Mino in various kinds of clothes. He, himself was interested in fashion so he enjoyed his time till the class was over. While Taehyun was preparing to leave, his classmate, a girl, came to him. She looked shy, squeezing the rim of her blazer. Taehyun just looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

“Taehyun, can I ask you something?” Taehyun could hear the tremble in her voice. He started to question what would make this girl so nervous. He just nodded to the girl as an answer. She looked a bit more relax, smiling, and her cheeks flushed in pink.

“You are close to Mino-oppa right? Does he have a girlfriend?” She dragged a chair from the nearby seat and sat opposite to Taehyun. Taehyun was a bit surprise, that was his first time a classmate approached him like this. He didn’t hate it though, the girl didn’t think that he and Mino was gay so he thought she was okay to be friendly with. Taehyun thought about what he was asked for a while, reminding himself of what Mino had told him.

“I don’t know. He never mention it.” He answered while started to put his belongings into his bag. He and Mino had talked about many things but this topic never came up, so it made Taehyun started to wonder.

“Can you ask him for me? Please?”, suddenly the girl grabbed his hand, shook it as she tried her best to act cute towards her classmate. But Taehyun just replied coldly, “Why?” He knew the answer but he wanted to confirm it, of course the girl liked Mino. Her cheeks turned bright red as he expected, her small hands quickly covered those reddish cheeks. “Y-you know… umm…I like him…” She whispered, “Just ask him for me! Please!”

Taehyun felt strange after hearing what he was expecting. He sat still, then forced a smile on his face. “Okay.”

-----

Song Mino.

It’s time to get up.

Taehyun texted Mino was the first thing he did that morning. It was some sort of ‘Good Morning’ message from him, and to make sure the older boy wouldn’t be late. He slowly dressed himself up with a oversized gray sweater with a pair of light blue jeans, and wore leather ankle boots. He spent his time in front of the mirror much longer than he usually did. He tried parting his hair different ways and end up with the middle parted. He made sure everything was perfect, then he left his home.

He rode the same bus as he usually did every morning, plugged in his earphones and simply listen to his playlist. It was a peaceful morning for Taehyun until he arrived the school bus stop. He started to feel nervous, he didn’t know why but the thought of meeting Mino made him felt uneasy. He walked slower, breathed in and out deeply, to calm himself down.

And there he was, sitting next to the window, wearing black. Taehyun had to admit that Mino looked really good today. He wore a black sweater with black jeans and black sneaker, even his snapback hat was black.

“Hey”, Taehyun entered the shop and greeted Mino as calm as he could. He tried to act cold but it was too hard to keep a straight face after seeing Mino’s bright smile, it was easily seen how excited Mino was. Taehyun gave him a faint smile then sat down. He also wanted to say something but he could feel an invisible lump in his throat. He started to feel uncomfortable and wasn’t sure anymore whether it was a good idea.

Mino was shock to see how good the boy look wearing casual clothes, it fit him perfectly.  He styled his hair different from usual, parting it in the middle and Mino could clearly see those cute eyebrows he liked so much. The older boy was too surprised to greeted back, he just sat there, jaw dropped. He sat the opposite seat, he looked a bit shy and lack of confidence because of his new hairstyle.

“Do I looked funny?” Finally, Taehyun broke the silence. His big hands covering his bangs and eyebrows. “No, Not at all. You look great”, Mino smiled to the boy. Taehyun mumbled, “Thanks”, and looked at the menu board behind Mino.

Their morning started smoothly thanks to Mino cheerfulness. He talked and asked Taehyun about many things, with his voice louder than usual because he was excited. The younger boy felt much better he could smile and laugh along without feeling uncomfortable.

Suddenly Taehyun could remember something, about his classmate. He stared at the boy in front of him who was drinking his warm coffee.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”, Taehyun blurted out. Mino almost choked on his drinks because of Taehyun’s sudden question. Earlier they were talking about what they should have for lunch, Mino probably wondered how did this topic came up. The older boy wiped his mouth as his eyes looked at Taehyun.

“Why are you asking?”, he asked with a weird smile on his face, half-amused half-serious. His dark eyes showed a little sparkles of hope, as Taehyun described.

“My classmate likes you, so she wants to know”, Taehyun casually sip his coffee, observing the older one. He could see those sparkles faded. He thought Mino would be happy to hear it but somehow he looked disappointed.

“No, I don’t”, he answered with a low voice. His lips forcefully stretched a smile, looking at his empty coffee cup.

“Will you date her?” He raised his head to directly look into Taehyun’s eyes, “No. I already have someone I like.” Taehyun felt something again. Mino’s stare made him felt like that ‘someone’ is him, but it was impossible since Mino always denied he wasn’t gay. He wasn’t excite to hear that at all. He didn’t even interested to know who that person was, or at least he acted like it.

Taehyun didn’t said anything so it was Mino’s turn now to ask the same question, “Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”, the older boy was still staring into his eyes. It was so strong that Taehyun had to looked away. He felt nervous again. He was asked by this question countless time but it was awkward when Mino was the one who asked him. Taehyun wasn’t dating anyone but he had been able to sense something and he wanted to prove it, so he gave a different answer than just a simple ‘no’.

“I did”, Mino’s expression changed again. He looked happier, but not as much as his usual. “How was it?”, he stared at his coffee cup again, avoiding eye contact and pretending a smile on that handsome face. “It was great”, He lied, his previous relationship wasn’t that good. It was bad of him to test someone’s feelings, Taehyun knew that but still, He wanted to know exactly what was on Mino’s mind. Mino painfully smiled at Taehyun then stretch his arms.

“Ah~ We should go now. It’s almost 10 already”, The older boy stood up and went out of the shop, not even looking at the other one. Taehyun decided to pause his little experimental here. He went after Mino and walked to the subway together.

It was awkward until they reached the art gallery, which was breathtaking. Both of them enjoyed the exhibition so much that they forgot what was bugging their minds earlier that morning. They spent their time in the exhibition till noon, when they started to feel hungry again.

It was a perfect afternoon, the lunch was good and the art was amazing. What made it more than perfect was both of them could talk and share about what they liked, their opinion, and all sorts.

They agreed to visit the nearby gallery too, so they spent all day with good arts. Taehyun really had a great time, also Mino. Taehyun always came to a place like this alone. He did have friends outside of school but they didn’t really into art as much as he did. Mino was his first friend that he could share his interest in art with. He could feel something increasing, his feelings that he wasn’t sure what it was, but his feelings towards Mino kept growing more and more.

Both of them secretly didn’t want that day to end, but everything had its end. It was already dark, Taehyun and Mino was still talking happily. Taehyun offered to walked Mino home and Mino didn’t refuse so they were walking alone on the empty streets.

“Today was great. We should do this again.” Taehyun sincerely said to Mino. He totally forgot about what happen that morning. Mino was smiling, running his fingers through his black messy hair.

“Yeah. It was great”, He took a glance at Taehyun, “Umm, Taehyun-ah, let’s take a selca”, he grabbed his phone from his pocket, looking at it because he was too nervous to see Taehyun’s reaction.

“Here? Now? But it’s dark”, Taehyun looked around and Mino dragged his arm to the nearest gate light. It was bright but didn’t help much.

“Hyung, where are you? I cannot see you”, Taehyun teased after he saw what was on Mino’s phone screen. He was barely seen because of the lack of light, his tanned skin, and his black clothes. The only thing bright enough to see was his teeth.

“Yah! Don’t tease me!”, Mino lowered his hand down, hesitated whether he should do this or not. Taehyun laughed then lifted the other one’s arm up again.  

“Just kidding”, he looked at his own reflexion on the phone screen, fixing his hair, and when he was sure he looked good, he smiled cutely. “I’m ready.”

Mino was smiling the whole time, watching Taehyun on the screen.

The picture was dark for sure, and Mino was barely seen. Taehyun laughed so hard and end up asking for that picture because it was amusing. Mino refused to give it to Taehyun, but he didn’t delete it neither. He would never delete it because it was there first picture together. Mino seemed to be too happy to say anything. He just smiled widely all their way back to his home.

“I live here. Thanks for today and see you tomorrow”, Mino pointed at the tall building in front of them. He patted on the younger boy’s head like he always did. “It was a great day.”

“Yeah, thank you too”, Taehyun smiled and waved his hands next to his chest. But suddenly Mino hugged him. It was a half hug though, but it made his body felt hot, especially his face, it was burning. Taehyun was sure his face must be red, so all he could think of was how to hide it from Mino.

The hug longed just a few seconds, then Mino parted himself off from the younger boy, who stood still. He was too startled to move. Thanks to the night time that Mino couldn’t see how red Taehyun was.

“Goodnight, Taehyun”, he smiled then patted on the younger one’s shoulder. Taehyun just nodded then turned back and walked away quickly. His heart was beating so loud. It was the only thing he could hear in this empty street. He didn’t even know how he get to the bus stop.

Taehyun breathed in deeply, then out, tried to calm himself down for the second time of the day. He could still feel the boy’s touch on his shoulder, gave him shiver. Taehyun sat on the bench, feeling weak. How could a hug made him like this? That morning he was sure he was the one who could control everything but now he wasn’t sure about that anymore. And he also wasn’t sure about the cause of his racing heart. Everything was so confusing and he wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

-----

The next day Taehyun was very quiet, well, he was always quiet but the atmosphere around him changed. No one dare to even say hi to the boy, even Bobby. But Taehyun wasn’t in a bad mood, he was just so deep in his own thought and forgot about the world. What happened the night before was still explicit. He replayed everything over and over in his head.

Taehyun was spacing out , looking at the window in the hallway during break time. He was still thinking about Mino and suddenly someone grabbed his shoulder, where the older boy had touched him. The feeling was familiar. Taehyun turned to see who grabbed him and there was Mino.

“Are you okay?” Mino’s hand was still on his shoulder and it made him feel weak again. The older boy looked concern, probably because he spotted his junior standing still, staring at the wall.

“I’m.. I’m fine, don’t worry”, Taehyun could hear a slight tremble in his voice. He straightened his back, and repeat what he just said with a steady voice “I’m fine.” Mino wasn’t convinced. He removed his hand from the younger boy. His eyes observing Taehyun to make sure everything was okay.

“Your face is red. Are you sure you didn’t catch a cold?”, Mino rose his hand to touch Taehyun’s cheek but Taehyun was quicker, he covered his face with both of his hands. He didn’t realize that he was blushing. Thanks to Mino’s dumbness that he could pretend he caught a cold. Taehyun nodded to answer. But everything got worse, Mino went panic and rushed Taehyun to the school infirmary.

“Hyung! I’m okay!”, He tried to resist, grabbing on whatever he could reach. And Mino insisted Taehyun need to go see the nurse immediately. Taehyun cursed himself for what he just lied.

He walked to the infirmary unwillingly, with Mino with him. As expected, nothing was wrong with him. He sit there in the infirmary, watching Mino begging the nurse for his sake, for him to rest here for a period or two. Since Taehyun didn’t want to go back to class so he lied he was feeling dizzy and needed to rest, then the nurse allowed him to stay.

Taehyun jumped onto the warm bed and lay down, trying to relax. Mino was still there, sitting next to his bed.

“Hyung, you can go back to class”, he looked at his senior who acted like he was sick with some severe disease. Mino bit his lower lip, “I’ll stay here till you fall asleep.”

“I’m not a baby. And that was so cheesy”, Taehyun chuckled, and it made the older boy smiled.

“Just rest. You want me to sing you a lullaby?”, Taehyun shook his head right away and both of them laughed. The nurse shushed them so they kept their mouth shut. Taehyun closed his eyes, feeling both relax and nervous at the same time. He wondered was Mino staring at him, and it made him felt uneasy.  

A few minutes had passed, everything was so quiet and peaceful. Taehyun felt sleepy and was going to fall asleep, but Mino just called him softly next to his ear.

“Taehyun-ah, are you asleep?”, Taehyun thought that Mino probably checking if he fell asleep already so he could go back to class, so he didn’t answer and pretend he was sleeping. What came after that low voice whispering next to him was a kiss on the side of his forehead. It was soft and warm, and it felt good. He lied still, tried hard not to move until he was sure Mino left the room. His eyes widened, couldn’t believed what the older boy just did. His face was burning hot again. Taehyun covered his whole body and face with the blanket, hiding himself from the world.

Why, why, why

Why are you doing this to me?

Song Mino, why are you doing this to me?

Why do I have to like you?

------------------ 

Heyyy How was it? I hope you enjoy this chapter ^^ 

And here is a greeting card from me. 
Sorry it's quite dark but it's how I usually do my art, hope you don't mind.
(I tried to make Nammie looks cuter by adding the nose and hat though haha didn't help) 

I wish you have a great holiday! 

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