taeyong stares at the minute hand cycle past the twelve numbers. his body is already turned to the side, ready to bolt out. just five more minutes and class is over. his fingers tap impatiently against the wooden desk, a leg bouncing under the desk in anticipation of that annoying, yet satisfying ring. it's a friday and taeyong has tonight to look forward to. going out with his friends on a friday night has, and always will make his week. they planned to go to the movies a week prior and routinely agreed to decide on a movie once they arrive to the ticket booth. it's always fun to pick a movie blindly, especially the horror ones. you'll never know the amount of gore you'll get to witness till you walk in. 

" yes." taeyong mutters under his breath in satisfaction as the bell sharply blares throughout the school. he gathers his stuff in his arms and marches himself towards the door, until he's being shoved aside by his overactive peers, who are clearly much more thrilled to get out of this hell hole than he is.

taeyong steps back to prevent himself from being trampled over and stumbles into a figure, dropping his notebook. a thud follows right behind him.

"ow..." he turns around only to see his smaller classmate on the ground, rubbing his right shoulder whilst both of their books are scattered across the floor.

"i'm so sorry! i didn't see you there. are you okay, taeil?" taeyong kneels down in front of taeil, who can't seem to stop staring at taeyong as if he's some sort of mystical unicorn. the staring made taeyong a bit uneasy. did he have something in his teeth? he swore his teeth were free from that green spinach he had at lunch when he went to the bathroom earlier. 

taeil shakes his head, delicate strands of hairs covering his eyes. "i-i'm fine. just a small bump..."

there's a brief silence, and then taeyong's soft chuckles breaks it, smile creases forming like parenthesis. his cute smile and angelic laughter easily breaks taeil's outer shell as the corner of his lips curls up into a wide grin. he felt butterflies seethe inside his stomach watching the way taeil's cheeks rises whenever he smiled. 

"ah, here. let me get this for you." taeyong picks up taeil's materials that were once scattered across the wooden floor and are now sitting comfortably in taeil's embrace. the smaller male bows his head to express his gratitude just before getting back up. taeyong following after he gathers his own stuff.

he digs his phone out of his pocket to check the time, occasionally glancing at taeil fidgeting with the loose strings of his shirt.

cute. 

taeyong still has a good amount of time left before meeting up with the boys, so he decides to stay and catch up with taeil. you could say they're friends, but it's usually the same routine ever since high school started. taeyong asks for help on something, taeil gives him the answers immediately. although it was great having his grades jump from a d to a b+, he wishes he got more out of him. most of the time, taeyong didn't want the help. taeyong just wanted to hear him speak. wanted to hear his cotton-like voice tingle his ears and warm his heart like hot chocolate on a winter day.

"well, i have to go now..." taeil suddenly speaks up and taeyong's heart sinks a little. where could he be going to? taeil always stayed after school. whether to study or to read books in the library, he didn't have the need to rush to it though. but today, somehow he did.

"oh, okay. well, have a nice day then, taeil." he gave taeil a smile, waving him goodbye as he exits the classroom. taeyong didn't know if it's just his mind wanting him to believe it, but he swore he saw taeil blush.    

   with a heavy sigh, taeyong slouches in taeil's desk, setting his materials on it. he stares at the side of his books, groaning loudly at how he has a few book reports due next week when his eyes land on one of those boring novels his teacher assigned to him. he continues to scan through the materials before stopping when he sees a notebook. a notebook with the name 'moon taeil' aligned on the right hand corner and the subject on the opposite. 

"when did this get here?..." taeyong clicks his tongue in confusion and flips the notebook open out of curiosity. being nosy is definitely one of taeyong's worst traits, but what could be so bad about opening your crush's english notebook?

taeyong sighs.

"even his handwriting is cute." he notes the way taeil's 'i's' are written. instead of making a small dot, he does an open circle. how cute is he, honestly? taeyong probably seems like a creep right now, but he shrugs the feeling off. "it's just notes." he mumbles. 

for a few minutes now, taeyong finds himself smiling wider each time he turns a page. taeil's notebook is literally filled with chibi drawings of comic characters. most frequently, spider-man. 

taeyong finds a favorite easily and it's the one where deadpool is embracing spider-man to death with their cheeks pressed against each other.

that is, until he turns to the next page.

no writings were to be found. no notes, none. instead, it's a sketch drawing of him, laughing and with gentle-like pencil to represent the wind blowing his bangs back. taeyong stares with widened eyes as the sketch is the only graphite that fills up the lined paper. it's beautiful. he wants to keep it for himself, but he knows tearing the paper out probably isn't such a good idea.

he's been so concentrated in taeil's portrait of him, he never realized the boy behind this drawing is right behind him, looking as horrified as ever.

"taeyong, i can explain!" taeil yells out, which causes taeyong to jump out of his seat instantly. it's probably the loudest he's ever heard taeil's voice and the fastest taeil made his heart beat, but not in a good way. 

taeyong turns around and sees colors of red blossoming all over taeil's cheeks. "t-taeil! i didn't mean to snoop aroun-"  

 "taeyong, i really like you and i couldn't resist to draw you because you're just so beautiful and you make me happy and i also really like you and that i love how you make an effort to try to talk to me every day despite me being so boring and awkward and that you make my heart flutter every time i see you and did i also say that i like you?"

taeil's heavy breaths fills the empty space around them as taeyong just stares out of space, mouth agaped. he heard what taeil said, but it just can't seem to process thoroughly. taeil likes him? he likes him? taeil, the kid who's been in his class for four straight years, the kid who he's been crushing on ever since that, likes him?

taeil stands there, nervously awaiting for a response as his hands clamp up into his sleeves, preparing himself for the rejection. lips bitten and eyes closed, taeil can't wait to spend the rest of his night crying over a boy.

but instead of that, taeil feels something warm and soft pressing against his cheeks. he opens his eyes and it's taeyong. taeyong's soft lips are pressing against his cheek, his warm breath just grazing over taeil's milky skin. it sends shivers down taeil's spine when he feels taeyong's smile. he looks up at the taller male with a questioning look when he steps back. a sluggish grin smothers taeyong's perfect face, and taeil did not realize how hot his cheeks are burning till he cups a palm over the kiss. 

"did i ever say that i like you too, taeil?"