CHAPTER 03

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Taeyong has his friends Hansol, Yuta, Doyoung and Mark over for dinner with his mom and him. It wasn’t his idea, he hadn’t invited them, but Yuta suddenly announced that he wanted to eat fancy and his parents weren’t home, and the next thing Taeyong knew, his friends were making plans to come to Taeyong’s house without including him in the conversation as usual. Well, what do you really expect from his friends, they always make plans without, but Taeyong feels pressured when he has to make plans, so he’s thankful, kind of, when they do it without him.

Not now, though, when they’re all sitting at their table, cornering Taeyong with questions in front of his mom. His dad isn’t home; he was taking an extra shift and would be coming late, so Hansol had taken the seat right across Taeyong and beside his mom. He was talking to her, making her laugh and Taeyong just ate, cringing at them. Geez, what’s with Hansol and moms? Taeyong knew Hansol had been a little too quiet than the rest of them, quieter than Taeyong, and although everyone thought he was generally uninterested in their conversations, he was actually probably busy thinking about other weird stuff. You know what they say; you have to be careful of the quiet ones.

His friends are having a good time as well as his mother. They’re eating well, laughing and talking about everything and nothing. Taeyong’s mother is a little laid back, so the boys freely converse with her whilst having their meals. Taeyong is thankful for their company because they make his mother feel less lonely, and the fact that his father isn’t home, his mom probably thinks Taeyong invited them over to keep her entertained. Which is a win-win situation; even if she later finds out that the plans were made excluding their own son. They at least came to have his mom’s fancy dinner.

What he doesn’t like, though, that after a while of quiet eating and little talk, the boys, mainly Doyoung, bring up the incident from a few days ago. When they had all returned from Han River, they had all went to have some KFC and then some ice cream. Taeyong, though, just bought his order home because he was not feeling like eating after what had happened to him. He still couldn’t believe he had gotten kissed on the mouth by another man for the first time.

His mother hadn’t known that Taeyong got kissed by a guy because he had come straight home and just went to his room, and his mom assumed he was angry and would come down himself when he’d cooled down, except, he didn’t talk to anyone for a few days, not even his mom.  He just came down and ate breakfast when his mom had gotten to bed again, and would only have little lunch and dinner, talking to his mom but avoiding the subject of anything that included Han River.

“So, mom,” Doyoung starts before swallowing down his bite.

Taeyong has to bite his lip from saying something smart because his friends are disgusting when they’re eating, talking to each other with their mouths full and only cleaning up their hands and faces after they’re done eating. Right now, though, they’re eating like proper human beings, and it would have Taeyong laughing if he didn’t really expect Doyoung to address The Incident of Han River, as Yuta likes to call it. Taeyong was expecting them talk about it as soon as they were through the door, but it still doesn’t seize to surprise him, his body becomes stiff as he stares down at his plate. Oh, .

“Yes, honey?” Taeyong’s mother says after putting some more spaghetti in Mark’s bowl, who thanks her before digging in. They all looked like they were enjoying their meals, and Taeyong wanted to, too, but he was too nervous. He loved his mom’s spaghetti, but he felt jumpy the whole night, the food he was trying to eat tasted anything but tasty.

“Did you know about this little dare we had Taeyong do a few days ago?” Doyoung asks, smirking in Taeyong’s way and he flashes him the bird when his mother isn’t looking. His mother nods his head, grinning in Taeyong’s direction, not noticing the boys glaring at each other.

“Yes, I do actually. Taeyong told me what the dare was at breakfast before going to… The Han River, am I correct?”

Doyoung looks surprised, so would everyone else, but they’re too interested in listening to the conversation between Doyoung and Taeyong’s mom.

“Really…? He told you about it?”

“Well,” Taeyong’s mother puts down her spoon before wiping at slowly, “He didn’t tell me everything. Just that you guys dared him to go to the Han River to hold a sign saying ‘kiss me, I’m desperate’, smart move, by the way,” His mother gives Doyoung a thumbs up, “but that’s it. That’s all I know. I don’t know what happened there, though.”

“Oh,” Hansol starts, smirking too.  He throws Taeyong a look, ignoring the desperation in his eyes before folding his hands on the table, “a lot happened, mom.”

“Oooh! Please tell me everything,” His mother says, abandoning her food like everyone else. Taeyong’s legs start jittering again, and dread settles in his stomach, making him want to throw up the little food he had consumed. His places a hand on his forehead and it covers his eyes, as he sits back in his chair, looking like he’s getting swallowed by it. He doesn’t want his mother to know about it, he doesn’t want anyone to know about the embarrassing way he acting whilst carrying out the dare, and he certainly does not want anyone to know about the kiss he received at the end. But his friends just love picking on them, and missing an open opportunity like this and not tease Taeyong for it? Impossible.

“Well, we had Taeyong hold the board that said the exact words, right?” His mother nods, leaning forward to listen properly. “He stood there, right in the middle where there were a lot of people. I chose the spot.” He says; shoulders high with pride. Taeyong wants to punch him.

“Taeyong actually got kisses from a lot of girls. There was even a group of girls, and all of them kissed him on the cheek.”

His mother’s eyes widen after hearing that, and she actually leans forward to poke Taeyong on the shoulder with her spoon handle. Taeyong shakes her off, still looking down at the plate, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. He didn’t know if he was embarrassed of the day, or that his dad was going to get to know the whole story word to word when he comes back. Taeyong thanks the Heavens he’s not present among them right now.

“And you know what happened after that, though?” Yuta speaks up, leaning forward as well, “Taeyong got kissed. On the mouth. By a boy.” He whispers loudly, as if he doesn’t want Taeyong to hear him spilling the beans, and his mother gasps loudly. Taeyong hears Mark snicker whilst eating food and Taeyong kicks him softly under the table, making him nearly choke on his spoon.

“…A boy?” His mother asks, and everyone except for Taeyong, nods their head rigorously. Taeyong just slips deeper in his seat, and he was sure his cheeks and ears were bright red. He kept covering his eyes, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone in the room. His mother suddenly claps, laughing with everyone else. This keeps on going for a good five minutes, before his mother had calmed down a little. She’s still laughing but she can talk now, and she leans over to poke him with her spoon again. Taeyong raises his eyes to give her a little glare, “congrats for getting kissed by a boy, honey.”

Taeyong sighs and tries to get up from the table and leave, but Mark and Yuta both grip his arms, making him fall back on his seat, “okay, okay, sorry!” Everyone shouts, and Taeyong grits his teeth, placing his head on the dining table. Why is his life like this, a joke? Why does everyone poke fun at him?

Because you get annoyed, and they want the kind of reaction, he remembers Hansol’s words. He had tried to talk back on multiple occasions, but he just gets mocked for it, so that’s that. Taeyong thinks he has to live like this, like it was written in his fate to ‘be the biggest joke for his family and friends’.

Mark’s still laughing, and he rubs Taeyong’s shoulder in comfort. Taeyong just sighs some more, looking up at Mark with a defeated look. It just makes Mark smile wider, his eyes sparkling. He’s so innocent and pure; Taeyong wonders why he hangs out with s