Chapter 27

It should have been uncomfortable, standing motionless for so long in the same spot, but Hongbin didn’t even feel it, lost in thought as he was. He’d been staring at one of the photos of Hakyeon on one of the shelves in the living room for the past half hour or so, but by now he didn’t even see it anymore, either.

Next weekend. Next weekend was when he’d agreed with Taekwoon would be a good time to invite Hakyeon over. And Hakyeon had already agreed.

Hongbin wondered if it had been the worst decision he’d ever made in his whole life. Taekwoon was good at reassuring him whenever he voiced his doubts and fears, but when Taekwoon wasn’t around, he felt like running away, just to make sure he wouldn’t ever be in the same place as this human, who looked so kind and happy all the time, in all the pictures, so loving and open-hearted, be he didn’t find it in himself to trust one bit.

The sound of the key turning in the lock of the front door, signaling Taekwoon’s return, unfroze Hongbin and he darted to the hallway, as if he hadn’t just barely blinked for half an hour.

“What if he hates me?” He blurted out instead of a greeting.

Taekwoon frowned, closing the door behind himself and starting to take off his outerwear.

“What if who hates you?”

“H-Hakyeon. What if he hates me?”

Taekwoon hummed, shaking his head as he hung up his scarf.

“I don’t think Hakyeon is even capable of really hating anyone…”

Hongbin swallowed thickly.

“But… but what if he does, just one person, and that one person he hates is me?”

Taekwoon shook his head, straightening his jumper that had gotten rumpled while taking off his jacket.

“No, Hongbin. He won’t hate you.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I just am.”

Hongbin wasn’t reassured, at all.

“But what if I mess up? If I annoy him? Or do something clumsy, and- and spill something on him, or drop something, or break-…”

Taekwoon chuckled softly, placing his hand reassuringly on Hongbin’s shoulder for a moment as he passed him.

“He would never hate you for that, Hongbin. You see, our friend Jaehwan, he’s the most annoying being in the world on six out of seven days of the week, and also the clumsiest; and his clumsiness has really messed up Hakyeon before, but Hakyeon still loves him dearly. Hakyeon is way more patient than I am, and you’ve never even come close to annoying me enough to hate you. You’ll be fine.”

Hongbin’s shoulders sagged a little,

“But what if he finds a reason, anyway?”

“In that case, I’ll know it’s not Hakyeon but some weird doppelgänger of his with us, and I’ll throw him out!”

Hongbin’s eyes widened, seriously considering the possibility, and Taekwoon sighed.

“That’s something that’s impossible, Hongbin. Just as impossible as Hakyeon hating you. I promise.”

Hongbin grimaced, but let it go for now.

Later after dinner, he picked it up again, though.

“So, let’s say Hakyeon won’t hate me. But he could always not like me…”

Taekwoon frowned a little, shaking his head.

“There is no reason why he shouldn’t like you, Hongbin…”

Hongbin shrugged.

“But it could happen, even without a reason. And in that case, what would you-… would you-… I mean, Hakyeon is your best friend, and I-… I’m just-… so, would you-… kick me out?”

Taekwoon was taken aback by that question, feeling the need to sit back down even though he’d only just gotten up.

“What? Of course not! Hongbin, I won’t just kick you out, for any reason! And most definitely not just because a friend might not like you! Which of course, won’t happen, but still, I wouldn’t kick you out because of something like that!”

Hongbin shrunk in a little on himself, and Taekwoon sighed, sliding off the couch so he was kneeling on the floor, in front of where Hongbin sat in the middle of his pillows.

“Hongbin, please, listen. I promise you Hakyeon won’t hate you. I’m sure he won’t dislike you, either. And above all, I like you a lot, no matter what happens, and I won’t ever kick you out. And I’ll protect you the best I can, always, ok?”

Hongbin took a deep breath, trying hard, so hard, to believe Taekwoon, to trust him.

“Ok…” He breathed, quietly, and found that he meant it.

*#*#*#*

“T-taekwoon…!”

“Hmm?” Taekwoon peeked out of the kitchen upon Hongbin’s call. The latter sat at the coffee table in the living room, supposedly practicing his reading skills. At the moment, the book Taekwoon had given him lay forgotten on the table, though.

“I can’t do this.”

Taekwoon raised a brow.

“Can’t do what? Read?” That didn’t make sense, Hongbin had been making steady progress all week so far, since he’d started reading that book.

As expected, Hongbin shook his head.

“This weekend… I-…” He broke off with a deep sigh, and Taekwoon dried his hands quickly before joining Hongbin in the living room again.

“Meeting Hakyeon?” He supplied helpfully, voice soft as he sat down on the floor by the coffee table as well. Hongbin nodded quietly, eyes fixed intently on his lap.

“Ok… Can you tell me why not?”

Hongbin took a shaky breath.

“I’m… I’m scared…” He started, and Taekwoon waited patiently for him to continue, sensing that Hongbin wouldn’t just leave it at that. And he was right; after a moment, Hongbin continued.

“He… he seems very… touchy, and I’m scared he’ll want to touch me, too. And I don’t-… can’t-… I know it’s normal, to hug, or shake hands, when people meet, but I just… I can’t. And he might be offended, and get mad…” He broke off, swallowing thickly as he almost choked on his words.

Taekwoon hummed pensively.

“You know, you are right about him being very touchy. He loves to hug people, and to be hugged. But, he’d never hug you, or touch you in any way at all, without your consent.”

Hongbin didn’t answer for quite some time, picking at his nails in his lap, before speaking up softly.

“What is that?”

Taekwoon had no idea what he was talking about.

“What is what?”

“Consent.”

Taekwoon’s jaw dropped in surprise, but he was quick to recover.

“It’s… It means agreeing to something. In this case, giving your consent means you allow someone to do something, like allowing Hakyeon to touch you. If you don’t allow it, you’re not giving him your consent, and he won’t do it.”

Hongbin’s shoulders tensed, and his fingers wrapped around each other tightly as he went rigid.

“I can do that?”

This conversation had Taekwoon constantly feeling lost.

“You can do what?”

“I can… not allow him to touch me?”

“Of course, you can. You are the only one who can allow someone else to touch you, which means you can also not allow people to touch you.”

Hongbin chewed on his lip for a moment, letting that sink in.

“And he’ll accept that?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Even though… even though I’m… just… me?”

Taekwoon nodded.

“Of course. It won’t make a difference who you are. No means no, and Hakyeon will respect that.”

Hongbin mulled over it a bit longer before speaking up again.

“And he won’t be upset?”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“No. He probably expects nothing else, anyway.”

Hongbin exhaled a long breath that neither had expected him to be holding.

“Could you… could you maybe… still tell him that? Just… just to make sure?”

“Of course. Does that mean you are ok with Hakyeon coming over, after all?”

Hongbin nodded slowly.

“As long as he doesn’t touch me…”

Taekwoon smiled softly.

“I’ll make sure to let him know.”

*#*#*#*

“Hongbin, are you going to come out for dinner?” Taekwoon asked through the closed door, behind which Hongbin had been hiding for most of the afternoon since Taekwoon had come home.

“I’ll come out when he’s gone again.”

Taekwoon frowned to himself.

“When who’s gone?”

“Your friend.”

Taekwoon sighed.

“Hongbin, it’s Thursday. Hakyeon will only come the day after tomorrow. There is still plenty of time.”

Silence answered him, but after a while the handle on the door moved and the door opened ever so slightly.

“Really?”

“Really. For now, dinner is ready.”

Hongbin opened the door further, and Taekwoon started back to the kitchen. Hongbin trailed after him, a little sheepish.

“Can’t he come on Sunday? Saturday… it’s too soon.” He asked eventually, halfway through dinner.

Taekwoon hummed pensively.

“I don’t know. It might be a bit late for a change of plans like that. Are you sure it would make a difference if he came Saturday or Sunday?”

Hongbin pushed his food around on his plate listlessly, grimacing to himself. Of course, it wouldn’t make a difference. Any day would be too soon.

“No…” He admitted quietly.

“Do you want to call it off?”

Hongbin bit his lip, very tempted by the idea. But… it had to happen at some point. And he’d never be ready, no matter if it was now or in a year. But he needed to do it, to meet Taekwoon’s friends, for Taekwoon’s peace of mind.

“No…” He answered again, eventually, and Taekwoon nodded in acknowledgement, returning to his food. Hongbin, too, forced himself to finish what was on his plate.

*#*#*#*

“Please, please tell him not to come tomorrow!” Hongbin begged Taekwoon, who was still more asleep than awake as he waited for his coffee to brew.

“W-what?”

Hongbin stepped closer, visibly shaking, even to Taekwoon’s clouded vision.

“Please. It’s too much, too soon, I can’t-…”

Taekwoon forcibly blinked himself more awake, trying to dispel the fog of sleep that still clung to his mind this early in the morning and before his first coffee.

“Hold on, Hongbin… What’s wrong?”

Hongbin took a shaky breath that did nothing to calm him down.

“Please make him not come tomorrow. I can’t do this! I’m- I’m-...Please!”

A tear escaping Hongbin’s eye succeeded in waking Taekwoon up some more even without coffee, and he finally realized in just what kind of state Hongbin was.

“Oh… Oh. Hongbin, I… Hey, come on, try to take deep breaths, ok? No one is here right now but us, and you are safe, ok? Should we sit down? That’s it, deep breaths... No one is coming over right now, it’s all good…” He waited until Hongbin calmed down a little, helpfully providing a hand on Hongbin’s shoulder to help him ground himself, since that seemed to be the most effective method these days.

“Better now?” He asked softly once Hongbin’s breathing had become steadier and he was no longer shaking.

Hongbin grimaced but nodded lightly.

“Can you tell me what it is that is making you so scared?”

Hongbin took a deeper breath, but then shook his head.

“I don’t know…”

Taekwoon frowned a little.

“You don’t know what’s scaring you?”

Hongbin shook his head.

“No. I just-…” He clutched at his chest, bunching the shirt up in his fist as he grimaced again.

“Ok… How about I get you a tea and something to eat for now, and then we try to figure this out, together?”

Hongbin nodded slowly, and Taekwoon went to do as promised, while also finally getting to sip on his coffee to wake up fully and enough for this situation.

Somehow, he managed to balance both mugs and a plate with sandwiches and grapes over to the living room, setting the plate and one of the mugs down in front of Hongbin.

Hongbin picked slowly at the grapes, testing the tea carefully, as he no doubt expected Taekwoon to speak up at any moment again, asking him questions. He didn’t, though, leaving Hongbin to calm down further while nursing his own coffee, until Hongbin stopped fidgeting eventually and simply looked at him expectantly.

Taekwoon sighed, setting his now empty mug down on the table before speaking.

“Did you get any sleep at all? You’re up awfully early.”

Hongbin shifted in his spot, shrugging.

“I woke up… a while ago.”

A long while ago, he thought. And what sleep he got hadn’t exactly been rejuvenating.

Taekwoon nodded, understandingly.

“Hmm… Nightmares?”

Spot on as always. Hongbin sighed.

“That, too.”

“Are the nightmares what made you scared of meeting Hakyeon?”

Hongbin wasn’t sure about that. Were they? They hadn’t been about Hakyeon, per se…

“There were… too many people…” He tried to explain instead. Taekwoon listened attentively.

“And… It was too much. It was loud. And everyone was too close.”

He started fidgeting again, this time with a grape in his hands, until he dropped it. Startled, he dove after it and picked it up again, brushing invisible dirt off before placing it back on the table gingerly.

“Everyone was talking at the same time… And they came closer and closer… The whole room was full, and I couldn’t… couldn’t get out. All I could see were faces… And hear nothing but their voices…”

He took a deep, shuddering breath while rubbing behind one ear sheepishly.

“It was just… too much.”

Taekwoon finally hummed.

“I can see why that would be too much… It would be too much for me, too.”

Hongbin looked up at that, surprised by that admission. Taekwoon shrugged.

“I can’t stand having many people stand close to me at the same time and being noisy, either. It’s really uncomfortable.”

Hongbin focused back on the lone grape on the table, nodding slowly.

“It’s scary.”

“Mhm… Is that what caused you to be scared of Hakyeon coming over, too?”

Hongbin thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.

“Maybe…”

“Hmm… more because of the noise, or because of being too close?”

Hongbin grimaced.

“I don’t know… I just…” He shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know if that’s what made me scared of meeting him in the first place. Or if… if it’s something else…”

Taekwoon nodded slowly.

“Well, if it helps, remember Hakyeon is just one person, and not many. And also, I’ll do my best to make sure you’re not cornered, so Hakyeon won’t be between you and a door, for example. You don’t have to come close to him at all, either. It’s fine if you want to stay at the opposite end of a room from him and not come closer.”

Hongbin considered the offers carefully before nodding slowly.

“Ok…”

“Do you think you’ll be ok like that? Can we still go ahead with it?”

Hongbin nodded again.

“I think… yes. But… I’ll probably still be scared…”

Taekwoon nodded.

“Hmm… I guess that’s not going to change until Hakyeon has had a chance to prove to you that he’s ok. It took you a while before you weren’t scared of me anymore, too, after all.”

Hongbin opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Or maybe he could, but it was stupid. Because Taekwoon was right and he wasn’t scared of him anymore. But it had taken quite a long while for that to happen, even if he couldn’t remember when it had happened. He closed his mouth again, choosing to only nod quietly in answer.

Taekwoon was right, he would only ever learn to not be scared of Hakyeon after he’d met him and gotten to know him, if ever. And for that he needed to meet him first.

With Taekwoon’s reassurances, and the many outs he had, he should be able to do this.

*#*#*#*

“Hakyeon won’t come just yet. We still have a couple of hours, you can eat peacefully.” Taekwoon reassured a very fidgety Hongbin who kept interrupting his eating to listen carefully if someone was approaching their front door.

Once again, the steps he’d heard in the hallway faded away. He exhaled slowly, returning to his food.

Saturday morning had finally come, and Hongbin had managed not to freak out again. At least not much. He hadn’t slept much, either, but he thought he was as well-rested as possible.

“Have you read that book any further? Are you liking the story so far?” Taekwoon tried to distract Hongbin, and for a moment it worked.

“I have. It’s interesting. I think the boy is becoming friends with the dragon. I like the way the dragon thinks, too.”

It didn’t seem as if Hongbin had managed to read far yet, but slow progress was still progress, and considering Hongbin was only just starting to learn to read, it was pretty good.

“I had a feeling you would agree with the dragon’s views.” Taekwoon chuckled.

“He’s very smart.”

“That he is.”

“Is the boy going to stay with him?”

“Hmm… If I told you that, wouldn’t it make the story less exciting?”

Hongbin protested, and Taekwoon relented and gave in, just a little, teasing little spoilers of the story that would most likely make Hongbin want to read further instead of giving up. He managed to keep Hongbin distracted for quite some time, and himself as well, so much so that they both jumped when the doorbell rang.

Both pairs of eyes wandered to the clock, now showing the time they had agreed for Hakyeon to come over.

Hongbin jumped up, standing in the middle of the room like a deer in headlights, while Taekwoon got up slower, checking his phone, too, where he had a message from Hakyeon saying that he’d arrived.

“It’s ok, Hongbin. It’s Hakyeon.”

Hongbin nodded stiffly, but Taekwoon could see the panic in his eyes.

“Are you alright?”

Hongbin shook his head.

“N-no. I-…” He exhaled forcefully, his hands coming up to grip at his hair after running through it frantically.

Taekwoon closed the distance between them, placing a comforting hand on Hongbin’s shoulder once more, and felt the other lean into the touch.

“You’ll be fine, Hongbin. Remember everything I told you about him.”

“I-I do. But-…” He had to stop to manage to keep his breathing under control.

“It’s too sudden. I can’t- can’t do this. Taekwoon, please…!”

Taekwoon nodded calmly.

“It’s ok, Hongbin. Do you want to go to your room and stay there for a bit until you think you’ll be more ready?”

Hongbin considered that option for a moment before nodding.

“And it’ll be ok to let Hakyeon come in? Just in here, in the living room.”

Hongbin nodded again, and Taekwoon gave him a soft smile.

“Thank you. I’ll wait until you’re safe before I open the door. Let me know when that is, ok?”

Hongbin nodded again, and then rushed out of the room and down the hallway, while Taekwoon followed at a slower pace and turned down the other way.

A somewhat strangled “Ok!” from the other end of the hallway before a door falling shut and the bolt of a lock clicking into place told Taekwoon it was time to finally let Hakyeon in.

Hakyeon stood on his doormat with a bunch of bags in his hands.

“I passed by the market before coming here and thought you might like some fresh fish and vegetables. There’s a bread, too, that I thought you should try!” Hakyeon announced in lieu of a greeting, shoving the bags into Taekwoon’s hands.

“Uh… Thanks… You didn’t have to, Hakyeonie…”

“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to!” Hakyeon singsonged as he danced past Taekwoon and into the apartment.

“Wow, feels like I haven’t been here for ages… Couch! I’ve missed you, old friend!!” Taekwoon snorted as he watched Hakyeon dart into the living room and plop down onto the couch, spreading out across its full length.

“You’ve missed my couch?! Wow. Not me?”

Hakyeon waved dismissively without getting up.

“Nah. I see you almost every day. Your couch, however… We have a lot to catch up on!”

Taekwoon shook his head at his antics, leaving him to it while going to put the produce Hakyeon had brought in the fridge.

“Did you sleep in?” Hakyeon asked once he returned to the living room, gesturing at the remains of their breakfast still standing on the coffee table. Taekwoon shook his head.

“No… sorry about that. Hongbin and I got distracted talking about a book he’s reading and haven’t gotten around to putting this away before you arrived.”

Hakyeon made an understanding noise, proceeding to look around the room while Taekwoon gathered their utensils from breakfast to put them away.

“Hasn’t changed much… More pictures, though.”

Taekwoon nodded.

“Minhyuk suggested it. To slowly get Hongbin used to seeing more of you guys around.”

“Did it work?”

Taekwoon shrugged.

“Somewhat. It’s opened conversations about you, made him ask about you.”

Hakyeon hummed and continued his survey of the room while Taekwoon returned the dishes to the kitchen.

“It’s cozier now. Thank you.” Hakyeon noted, thanking Taekwoon for the bottle of juice and glass he had brought with him.

“You know, with it not being as pristinely clean and organized. You have a habit of making your place look as if no one lives in it. It looks better now, like this.”

He gestured at the pillows on the floor and the open folder with loose sheets of paper under the coffee table.

Taekwoon rose an eyebrow at him.

“Thank you, I guess? Personally, I find it’s quite clean and picked up, though…”

Mouthing soundlessly, he added ‘Hongbin cleans!’, and Hakyeon answered with a silent Oh.

“Well, of course it is, I just mean… it looks more lived in. Cozy. Welcoming. Not like a show room from a magazine, you know?”

Taekwoon gave him a thankful smile.

“I know what you mean. I like it this way, too.”

Hakyeon smiled conspiratorially, sitting up to pour himself some juice. Having spent more than enough time with Sungjae, he knew all too well just how sharp a cat hybrid’s hearing was, and of course, also how nosey they were.

A raised eyebrow and tilted head conveyed the question about Hongbin’s whereabouts perfectly to Taekwoon, who once again mouthed his answer soundlessly.

“His room.”

Hakyeon nodded understandingly before leaning back again.

“Ah, seriously. I’ve really missed this place. Remember when we gathered here to have that late-night ice-cream party after Jaehwan’s breakup and someone knocked over the caramel syrup and no one noticed until the whole carpet was soaked? Good times…”

Taekwoon snorted.

“I had to have the whole living room carpet exchanged, what about that was a good time?”

“You got rid of that garish ochre yellow and puke green monstrosity that way. That makes it a good time in my book.”

Hakyeon had a point.

“Oh, and when we had that sleepover during the thunderstorm and the lights went out and you knocked over a whole bookcase and almost beheaded everyone?”

Taekwoon snorted.

“That was this summer, of course I remember. I’m not that old. And I didn’t almost behead anyone.”

“Of course, you did. Jaehwan and I were scared for our lives!”

“No, you weren’t. You didn’t even see what was happening until the lights came back and I was holding the bookcase up anyway so it couldn’t fall on you.”

“We were scared when we saw what was happening!”

“Because you both are the definition of overdramatic to a T.”

Hakyeon huffed, but then sighed contently.

“It really feels like it’s been forever, though. Guess I’ll have to find a new best friend now if I want to keep having that…”

Taekwoon knew Hakyeon didn’t mean it, and he didn’t take it seriously, but he knew someone else would. He grimaced.

“Hakyeon… very bad topic.”

Hakyeon gave him a puzzled look.

“What?”

Taekwoon nodded in the general direction of the back of the apartment, where Hongbin was.

“Hongbin is genuinely worried that you might get mad at me or him or both of us because I spend more time with him than with you these days.”

Hakyeon’s eyes widened.

“But that’s… I would never! Not seriously! You should know that, you should have told him!”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“I know, and I did. But I’m pretty sure he won’t believe it until you prove it to him.”

Hakyeon sputtered for a moment.

“But-… I-… I’ve never been jealous of you or anything, I- I didn’t think… Should I tell him that? Would that help? How do I prove something like that?”

Taekwoon shook his head again, pulling Hakyeon back onto the couch after he’d abruptly gotten up.

“Don’t. He’ll believe it as time passes.”

Hakyeon sighed but let Taekwoon pull him back onto the couch.

“Ok, I guess… Anything else I should be aware of that I need to prove?”

Taekwoon hummed pensively.

“Well… Prove… Not so much. There are, however, some things you should keep in mind if he comes out and joins us. Like, make sure to stay where you are and let him choose at what distance he wants to be from you. And he’s asked me specifically to ask you not to touch him.”

Hakyeon nodded.

“Ok, noted. I wouldn’t just randomly touch him, anyway, though.”

“He means specifically what most people do in greeting, like hugs or handshakes. But of course, any other kind of touching is also taboo. He really isn’t big on physical contact.”

Hakyeon nodded.

“Alright. I’ll just barnacle myself to you then.”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes, pushing at Hakyeon’s chest as he latched onto him.

“That isn’t even a verb…”

“It is now!”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes again but gave up trying to get rid of Hakyeon after failing to dislodge him with another half-hearted push to his chest. He knew Hakyeon would let go again soon enough if he stopped struggling now, and barely a minute later he was free again.

“Did I scare him when I rang the doorbell? You said it would be ok…”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“Just caught him by surprise, since he was distracted, and that was my fault. He’s been quite on edge with all this, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t come out at all today. That’s ok, though. I want him to feel safe more than anything.”

Hakyeon nodded in agreement.

“Of course. Aww, Binnie… I’m so sorry he’s having a hard time…”

Taekwoon sighed quietly.

“Nicknames, Hakyeon…”

Hakyeon covered his mouth hastily.

“Sorry, I forgot! You’re still not using them?”

Taekwoon shook his head, and Hakyeon sat up straighter.

“Ok. I’ll do my best. You know it’s hard for me, though, so please bear with me… Taekwoonie!”

Taekwoon sighed, rolling his eyes at him and slightly jabbing his side.

“You are the worst…!”

A slow grin started to spread on Hakyeon’s lips as he scooted away from Taekwoon, out of his immediate reach.

“Well, am I? You sure? What would I be if I called you Leo instead, then?”

Taekwoon’s gaze turned into a glare immediately as he narrowed his eyes at his so called best friend.

“Don’t you dare…”

Hakyeon chuckled.

“What would you do, Leo-ssi?”

“Don’t call me that…!”

“Why, Leo-ssi? It’s cute…!”

Taekwoon cringed, knowing he shouldn’t engage Hakyeon because it would only make it worse, but a part of him he loathed most days found it fun, and so he answered.

“It’s not. But if you want to end up as fertilizer for your houseplants, keep going…!”

Hakyeon laughed at that.

“At least I’ll keep my plants alive like that. Unlike someone else I know…!” He gave the slightly yellowish orchid on the windowsill that Hongbin had been trying hard to revive lately a pointed look.

Taekwoon hated that he had to give Hakyeon that point; which didn’t mean he would admit to it.

“Just quit it, you insufferable brat.” He jabbed at his side again, his fingers landing pointedly in a soft gap between Hakyeon’s ribs, making him squeal loudly before he managed to muffle his own cry with his hands.

“Leo-ssi, you’re playing dirty!” He exclaimed in a hiss.

As if he wasn’t, Taekwoon thought as he tried to evade Hakyeon’s retaliation jab and jumped right in the way of his other hand, Hakyeon’s fingers landing painfully in his side, eliciting a strangled groan from him.

Of course, Taekwoon couldn’t just leave it at that, retaliating right away. Before long, the two were involved in a serious jab/tickle fight, quickly forgetting what had started it in the first place in favour of the competition.

*#*#*#*

Hongbin stood right behind his door, listening intently to what was going on in the apartment. Of course he would, unable to just go and distract himself with his book or something like that when the person Taekwoon had been so adamant about him meeting was finally there. He’d been planning to come out at some point as he listened to their conversation earlier, but for a while now the conversation had ceased, and all he could hear now were gasps and groans and the occasional small scream.

He didn’t know what to make of it, and it unsettled him. After the last bits of conversation he’d been able to hear, it could very well be that they were fighting.

He didn’t want to be caught in a fight, absolutely not, but the thought that Taekwoon might be involved in one right now worried him deeply. He didn’t want him to get hurt, and he didn’t want him to hurt someone else, either. He was also scared that if he was able to hurt someone else, like Hakyeon, his best friend, that meant that he would also be able to hurt him, eventually.

He listened closer, but he couldn’t figure out what was going on from listening alone. Was that a laugh or a cry? A chuckle or a choke? He couldn’t tell, and his anxiety rose. Some of the sounds sounded so pained! Would Taekwoon be ok? Would Hakyeon? He had to find out!

His heart beating heavily in his throat, he opened his door before the little bit of courage he’d managed to painstakingly gather from the furthest corners of his being evaporated, and stepped outside, hurrying down the hallway.

He halted abruptly in the doorway to the living room, gripping the doorframe tightly.

Taekwoon and Hakyeon were kneeling on the couch, Hakyeon holding a pillow out in front of him to block Taekwoon’s attack; what kind of attack, Hongbin couldn’t really make out, and he gasped quietly.

Hakyeon squawked, throwing himself backwards and out of Taekwoon’s reach before lifting his hands in surrender.

“Woon, hold up!”

Taekwoon frowned, expecting a ploy from Hakyeon, but stopped nonetheless.

“What?”

Hakyeon nodded towards the doorway, towards Hongbin.

“Hongbin.” He whispered, not that that kept Hongbin from hearing it anyway.

Taekwoon’s frown intensified.

“Hakyeon…”

“I’m serious. No ploy, promise.”

Taekwoon turned around, eyes widening when he saw Hongbin standing there.

“Oh… Hongbin… Everything ok?”

Of course, it wasn’t. He could see that, too, but asking that way often prompted Hongbin to tell him what wasn’t ok. It took a while this time, probably because Hakyeon was there, too, but it worked in the end.

“You fought…” It was meant as a question but didn’t sound much like one.

Taekwoon bit his lip sheepishly, swinging his legs over so he was sitting properly on the couch again.

“We didn’t. It was just a playfight. Nothing serious.”

Hongbin’s grip on the doorframe tightened.

“But, you… I heard it…”

Taekwoon sighed.

“I promise, Hongbin. We’re fine. We were just playing around, not hurting each other. I’m sorry we scared you.”

Hongbin looked doubtful, but his grip on the doorframe slackened slowly. His attention was soon caught by Hakyeon, who’d sat up properly on the couch in the meantime, too. It didn’t go unnoticed, and Hakyeon waved slightly at him.

“Hi, Hongbin…”

Hongbin went rigid, not knowing what to say, what to answer, if to answer at all. They hadn’t talked about this part, how he should behave once they actually came face to face.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed Taekwoon get up from the couch and approaching him, not until he was right in front of him, blocking his view of the rest of the room.

“Hey… you ok?”

Hongbin blinked quickly, inhaling sharply, but didn’t back away from Taekwoon. Hastily, he tried to even his breathing, which he seemed to have forgotten to do completely in the last few moments until Taekwoon stood in front of him.

“I-… yes. Ok. I’m ok. I-… I thought-… You’re not hurt?”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“No. It was just a playfight, a tickle fight. Neither of us is hurt. We’re just a bit winded, because we tried not to make a lot of noise because we didn’t want to scare you. I’m sorry we did anyway.”

Hongbin exhaled shakily and nodded.

“It’s ok… I-…” He broke off, giving Taekwoon a pleading look for the fraction of a second.

“What do I do?” He whispered urgently, eyes darting to where he should have been seeing Hakyeon if Taekwoon hadn’t been standing in front of him.

“Do you want me to introduce you?” Taekwoon asked just as quietly, but Hongbin didn’t know what to answer. It was technically pointless, since he already knew Hakyeon’s name, and Hakyeon knew his.

Still, Taekwoon stepped out of the way when he could see Hongbin’s breathing had stabilized again.

“Alright then. Hongbin, this is Hakyeon. Hakyeon, meet Hongbin.”

Hongbin still didn’t know what to do, so he just mimicked Hakyeon’s actions from earlier and gave a small wave. He didn’t have enough voice left for a greeting, so he remained silent. Taekwoon didn’t, though.

“Hakyeon brought fish and vegetables from the market for us, and we were going to cook lunch soon.”

Hongbin didn’t know what to answer to that, and Taekwoon continued softly.

“If you want, you can join us. Or not, it’s up to you. That goes for both making and eating the lunch, by the way.”

Hongbin couldn’t fathom being in the same kitchen as a stranger, even if the stranger was Taekwoon’s best friend. Even more unlikely was that he would be able to eat in his presence.

“I… Can I… Just go back?” He asked, once again slightly breathless.

“Of course, you can. Let me know if you need something, though, ok?”

Hongbin nodded, and before anyone could say anything else, slipped back down the hallway and to his room.

His heart was racing, and he was shaking as he leaned back against his door, taking deep breaths to calm himself. It was very unsettling seeing someone else in the living room that in his mind didn’t belong there. Sitting on the couch as if it was the most normal thing to do. Well, it kind of was normal, probably, but it wasn’t to him! To him, it was only normal for Taekwoon to sit on that couch. Alone.

He took a few more steadying breaths.

Apparently, it was also normal for Hakyeon to sit on that couch, going by the conversations he’d overheard earlier, and by the natural way he’d been sitting there after he’d interrupted Taekwoon’s and his playfight.

He slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor as he recalled the short interaction with Hakyeon in detail to himself. Hakyeon looked exactly like in the pictures he’d seen of him. And he smelled exactly like all the things Taekwoon had brought and said Hakyeon had touched or worn at some point. And his voice sounded nice. Well, at least it wasn’t the kind of voice that made his hackles raise or that grated on his nerves. It wasn’t as nice as Taekwoon’s voice, though.

What was most fascinating to him was that he seemed indeed close to Taekwoon. They had to be, if they were playfighting. They must have been touching each other a lot since he’d come over, because Taekwoon had smelled a lot like Hakyeon when he’d stood in front of him. It made him curious to see how exactly they interacted. Not just what he knew from pictures, or what the supposed playfighting could be, but… normally. He wanted to see.

For a while, he just sat there, chewing on his lip and debating what to do, until his curiosity took over. As silently as possible (and that was very silent indeed) Hongbin slipped out of his room and down the hallway. The shift in where the voices and other noises came from told him that Taekwoon and Hakyeon must have moved to the kitchen, just as Taekwoon had announced earlier.

Hongbin crept as close to the kitchen door as he could without being seen from inside the room, listening to the two humans. Unfortunately, they were mostly quiet. Taekwoon was humming, like he often did when he was cooking, while Hakyeon only ever asked short questions, like which ingredient Taekwoon wanted him to cut next.

It was quite boring, to only listen to knives against chopping boards and the low sizzling of a frying pan, Hongbin quickly found. It told him nothing of what he wanted to know.

Making sure to remain unseen, he crept closer to the doorway and peeked around the corner. Just a little, just barely enough to see what was going on in the room.

Like he could have easily concluded from the noises he’d heard, Taekwoon and Hakyeon were simply cooking lunch. And still, that was kind of fascinating. Seeing them move around each other, sometimes side by side, sometimes with their backs turned to each other, sometimes reaching over or under or in front of the other… It looked so natural, gestures replacing words as they moved as if in a dance of some sort.

It definitely looked like a dance, because every single movement of Hakyeon’s was filled with a grace that amazed Hongbin. Every movement looked controlled and perfectly measured, nothing seemed clumsy or accidental. It was mesmerizing, watching him move alone, and Hongbin forgot to make sure he was hidden from their view as he watched on.

Taekwoon noticed Hongbin standing in the hallway but didn’t mention it or showed that he’d seen him. He just kept doing what he had been doing all along, silently grateful that Hongbin had decided to come out of his room, even if just to watch them from a hiding spot. It was more than he had expected from him during Hakyeon’s first visit, to be honest.

“Are these okay like this?” Hakyeon interrupted Taekwoon’s silent thoughts, and Taekwoon peered over to Hakyeon’s work place.

“Yep. Gimme!” Taekwoon held a hand out, but Hakyeon pouted.

“Why can I never put something in the pan?”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes, bumping Hakyeon’s hip with his own.

“Because you manage to create a disaster with everything that goes beyond cutting the ingredients.”

Hakyeon snorted but handed Taekwoon the cutting board.

“Not true.”

Taekwoon rose an eyebrow at him.

“Remember when you almost set your kitchen on fire with spring onion rings?”

“That was one time!”

“Or when you managed to crack your rice cooker?”

“It must have been faulty from the manufacturer!”

“And the microwaved eggs?”

“No one told me I shouldn’t do that!”

Taekwoon chuckled as he reached for a bottle of sauce to season whatever he was frying.

“No pouring in my kitchen for you!”

Hakyeon huffed, turning away from Taekwoon, but a mischievous smile appeared on his face as he went over to the sink to wash his hands. Hongbin wondered if he should be worried, but before he finished his thoughts, Hakyeon had filled a spoon with water and chucked it at Taekwoon, the water landing at the back of his neck and trickling into his shirt.

Taekwoon jumped, almost dropping the spoon he was using to stir in the pan.

“Cha Hakyeon! You are so dead!” He shouted, turning to face Hakyeon, who was laughing hard as he clutched the sink to keep himself upright.

His eyes narrowed, Taekwoon chucked the first thing he could reach at Hakyeon. It was a bottle cap, sticky with a dark substance. Oyster sauce, Hongbin could tell from the smell.

Hakyeon screeched as he failed to block it and it hit his chest, leaving a stain.

“Hey! This shirt was new!”

Taekwoon shrugged, grinning victoriously.

“Shouldn’t have worn a new shirt anyway when you’d been planning to stand in a kitchen any time soon… with your skills!”

Hakyeon narrowed his eyes at Taekwoon.

“Oh, you… It’s on! It’s so on!”

Before Taekwoon had time to react, Hakyeon threw an end of a carrot at Taekwoon, which hit him in the cheek, to which Taekwoon retaliated with throwing an oven-mitt.

Hongbin watched the exchange confusedly. It was strange seeing Taekwoon like that, so competitive and playful, in a somewhat aggressive but not unkind manner, and Hakyeon seemed to be just the same. Considering the conversation he’d overheard earlier, and the playfight he’d walked in on, it seemed to just be the way their relationship worked, though. It was strange, but it didn’t seem bad.

That was, until Hakyeon threw a wet dishtowel and Taekwoon stumbled backwards, knocking against the handle of the pan on the stove. Hongbin saw it happen as if in slow motion, the pan turning slightly, coming off its perch just enough to tilt, tilt a little further, the food sliding to one side, before the pan started to fall.

Hongbin’s eyes widened. All their hard work would be gone before either of the two humans noticed what was happening, as they were still bickering. Without thinking, he leapt forward, crossing the kitchen at lightning speed and managed to catch the falling pan’s handle just before it hit the floor. Only a little bit of the food spilled, and he exhaled in relief, standing up.

The silence he noticed filling the kitchen all of a sudden was deafening on his ears, and he froze in place. Both Taekwoon and Hakyeon’s eyes were on him.

It took longer than it would usually have for him to notice how warm the handle of the pan was where he was holding it, and he hissed, hastily placing it back on the stove and letting go of the hot handle.

The clanking of metal on metal broke the silence in the kitchen.

“Oh , I’m so sorry…!” Hakyeon apologized, and Taekwoon hastily let go of the towel to shove the pan further onto the stove, turning the latter off, too.

“Hongbin, are you hurt?”

Hongbin shook his head, taking a few steps back, away from Hakyeon, until he had the door in his back and Taekwoon between them. He barely heard Taekwoon’s question, his heart suddenly beating frantically again.

“Can I see your hand, please?” Taekwoon asked again, standing a few steps away from Hongbin, avoiding coming closer so he wouldn’t crowd him.

“M-my hand?” Hongbin whispered, not understanding why Taekwoon wanted to see his hand.

“I want to see if you burned yourself. You hissed and put the pan down quickly…”

“I…” Hongbin looked at his hands. He couldn’t see anything, but he held them out to Taekwoon anyway. Taekwoon came closer, reaching out towards him.

“Can I?”

Hongbin blinked, distracted, as he’d been trying to figure out where Hakyeon had ended up in the past few seconds. He needed to know, he couldn’t have him turning up behind him suddenly or something. Luckily, he found him still by the sink, looking serious but quite firmly rooted in place.

“Wha-… Uh, yes…”

Taekwoon took his hands in his own gingerly, looking closely, but couldn’t find anything out of the usually.

“Does anything hurt?” He asked, to make sure.

Hongbin shook his head.

“No. It’s fine. It was just warm…” He mumbled, very quietly. For some reason, he didn’t want Hakyeon to hear him.

Taekwoon exhaled in relief, squeezing his hand gently before letting go.

“Thank god… Thank you for saving the pan, Hongbin. That was nothing short of amazing. But please, always make sure you don’t get hurt when doing something like that, ok?”

Hongbin averted his gaze to the floor between their feet and nodded sheepishly.

Taekwoon smiled softly.

“I’m just a little rattled because I thought you got hurt because we were being idiots, I’m not mad or anything, and I’m not chastising you. And the way you managed to still catch the pan before it hit the floor and not spill the food, that was awesome. Technically, I know you have quicker reflexes than I do, but I keep forgetting just how amazing you are. Thank you for saving our lunch.”

Hongbin had to remind himself to breathe, but for once it wasn’t because he was scared. He could feel his face growing warm under Taekwoon’s praise and thanks, and his stomach swooping in that one special way he was never sure if he liked or not. He definitely didn’t hate this moment, though. Taekwoon not just not minding that he was a freak that moved abnormally fast but praising him for it and thanking him for it was a change of pace he didn’t mind at all in his life.

“Aww, cute!”

Hongbin’s head snapped up, after momentarily having forgotten Hakyeon was there, too, his voice reminding him of his presence.

“I’m not!” He hissed instinctively, before realizing what he was doing.

His eyes grew wide when he realized just after his hiss had left him, taking a stumbling step back. Hastily, he surveyed the faces of the two humans, spotting surprise in both of them. In the fraction of a second, he decided to subtract himself from the room before surprise morphed into something else.

By the time Taekwoon blinked again, the door to Hongbin’s room was already falling shut behind him, lock clicking into place before the sound of that even reached the two men in the kitchen.

Hakyeon grimaced.

“I upset him.”

Taekwoon exhaled slowly.

“It’s ok, don’t beat yourself up over it. He sometimes reacts in very unexpected ways to things that seem innocuous to us. I’ll talk about it with him later.”

Hakyeon sighed, leaning back against the sink.

“Here he was worrying about me being mad at him and not liking him, and turns out I have to be the one worried about him being mad at me and not liking me…”

Taekwoon huffed quietly.

“We’ll figure this out. You’ll both have to be patient with each other. And make an effort to understand each other. Nothing is going to be determined in just one day.”

Hakyeon nodded solemnly, and Taekwoon went over and patted his back softly.

“Come on, lets finish lunch and eat. I’m getting hungry.”

Hakyeon sighed and pushed himself off the sink to do whatever task Taekwoon would assign to him. They quickly fell back into the same coordinated, quiet way to work they always did, and lunch was eventually done and ready to be served.

“You can fill your plate and go sit in the living room. I’ll go ask Hongbin if he wants something, too.” Taekwoon offered, quickly rinsing his hands before walking out of the room.

He received no response upon knocking on Hongbin’s door and sighed quietly.

“Hongbin, lunch is ready. Do you want to eat something, too?”

For a moment, he still didn’t get an answer, until he could hear a muffled “No.” through the door.

“Ok… Later?”

After another moment of silence, another short answer came.

“Maybe.”

“Alright…”

Taekwoon left Hongbin to it. There wasn’t much he could do right now, anyway, and he returned to the kitchen to get himself a plate of food, too. Upon joining Hakyeon in the living room, the older looked up expectantly at him, but Taekwoon shook his head and Hakyeon’s face fell.

“It’s ok, don’t think too much of it. It took ages before he felt comfortable enough to eat in front of me, too. He doesn’t know you well enough yet.”

Hakyeon sighed quietly but nodded, focusing on his food.

“Do you think there is anything I can do to make up for upsetting him?”

Taekwoon shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to find out why he got upset in the first place. We’ll just have to be patient.”

*#*#*#*

Hongbin sat on the floor beside his bed, wedged between the wall and the bedframe, all tangled up in his duvet and fluffy blanket while staring holes into the wallpaper as he glared at it. He was almost disappointed that it didn’t start to smoke and burn, plaster crumbling away. At some point, he was only still staring for the sake of it, not because he had a reason to glare at the innocent wall.

Wrapping himself up in the blanket and duvet had been an attempt to no longer be able to hear the conversations between Taekwoon and Hakyeon. He felt bad for upsetting Hakyeon, but he was upset, too! And so, he didn’t want to feel bad for upsetting Hakyeon. He didn’t want to hear what he had to say to Taekwoon about it, either, or what Taekwoon had to say about it in turn.

While his cocoon managed to dull the voices enough that he couldn’t understand them anymore, it didn’t block the unmistakable sound of the front door falling shut. He let out an involuntary breath, wondering if it was ok to feel relieved just yet. He pulled the duvet and blanket down, peeking his head out of his cocoon and listening closely.

There were still noises in the apartment, but only quiet ones that sounded as if someone was cleaning up. No talking. Well, Taekwoon and Hakyeon didn’t talk much while they’d been working. Hakyeon could still be there, for all he knew.

He decided to wait a little longer, ignoring his growling stomach. Still, no voices sounded from the other end of the apartment, only the whirring of the dishwasher at some point. Otherwise, silence.

Gingerly, Hongbin climbed out of his cocoon, inching towards the door to listen more closely. His earlier findings were only confirmed, though, and he quietly unlocked his door and left the room, creeping towards the front and the living room.

He found Taekwoon sitting alone in the living room, but he couldn’t tell if Hakyeon was still somewhere else in the place, since his scent still seemed to be everywhere.

“He left, Hongbin.” Taekwoon announced softly, but Hongbin still jumped. Taekwoon was definitely getting better at noticing when he was around, even when he was making an effort to be quiet.

Slowly, Taekwoon looked up, at Hongbin, who quickly averted his gaze.

“Are you hungry?”

Hongbin shrugged. He should have nodded, he knew that, but he didn’t feel like it. There was a weird feeling still bubbling inside him that made him want to defy Taekwoon. Well, maybe not directly, not Taekwoon, but he wanted to defy… something.

“If you are, I left some food out for you. If you want, I can warm it up.”

Hongbin didn’t answer, going to the kitchen to get himself the food.

Maybe it would have been better warmed up, but he didn’t want to ask Taekwoon to warm it up. He’d make do like this. It wasn’t like it was fridge-cold, anyway.

He grabbed the container and a pair of chopsticks, but then hesitated. Should he join Taekwoon in the living room? It would be far more comfortable to eat there, but also… It was whatever. He could just sit here, too.

Without further ceremony, he sat down on the kitchen floor, leaning against a counter, and started to eat.

The food was pretty good. It must have been delicious when still hot, fresh out of the pan. A little bit, just a tiny bit, really, he regretted not coming out to eat with Taekwoon and Hakyeon when the food was freshly done. But really, it was a minuscule bit.

“Are you sulking?” A voice from the doorway to the living room interrupted his reverie, and he found Taekwoon standing there.

“Am not.”

Taekwoon rose an eyebrow at him.

“Ok. You are grumpy, though.”

Hongbin huffed. Maybe he was; so what?!

“Are you jealous of Hakyeon?” Taekwoon guessed, crouching to sit down against the counter opposite Hongbin.

Hongbin furrowed his brow, staring at the container of food in his lap.

“No…!”

Taekwoon hummed.

“Are you mad at him, them?”

Hongbin’s heart stuttered for a short moment. Was he really mad at Hakyeon? Well, maybe, If not at him, then at least at… He growled lowly in his throat.

“You are?” Taekwoon asked, a little bit of surprise tinging his voice.

Hongbin huffed.

“I’m not cute!”

Taekwoon blinked, confusedly. Of course, Hongbin was cute! What was he on about?! But, well, maybe now wasn’t the perfect moment to voice that thought.

“Ok… You’re mad because Hakyeon called you cute?”

Hongbin shifted uncomfortably, shrugging. He might as well have nodded and admitted to it. But why go through that effort if Taekwoon understood the real meaning of his gesture, anyway?

“Why?” Taekwoon kept asking.

Hongbin shrugged again.

“I’m not. I’m-… I don’t know. But not cute!”

Taekwoon could tell that at this point, Hongbin was definitely sulking.

“Well… If you say so… But I think you are quite adorable myself.”

Hongbin’s gaze snapped up, and Taekwoon could tell how the hair at the back of his neck was rising as he growled.

“I’m not! I don’t want to be!” He was shaking, his hands no longer able to hold the chopsticks properly, so he closed his fist around them while his brow furrowed further, pupils dilating.

Slowly, it began to dawn on Taekwoon that Hongbin was scared, for some reason, and he decided to change tactics.

“You’re scared… Why?”

Hongbin exhaled forcefully, putting his chopsticks down in the container in his lap before setting the whole thing down on the floor and pulling his knees up to his chest.

“I’m not c-cute. Or adorable!” He muttered, wrapping his arms tightly around his legs and hiding his face behind them.

Taekwoon sighed softly, trying to figure out why exactly Hongbin was reacting like that.

“Ok… I won’t say that anymore if you don’t like it. But… just know that neither I nor Hakyeon ever meant it in a mean way. It was always meant as a compliment. And just because we find you… that, that doesn’t mean we don’t respect you, or your space, or what you want, and that we won’t take you seriously. We never meant it in a condescending way or anything like that.”

Hongbin peeked out from behind his knees, and the incredulous expression, paired with the amount of doubt in his eyes, led Taekwoon to believe that his assumption of what had really upset Hongbin had been spot on. Or at least very, very close to it.

“You didn’t think it was meant as a compliment, did you?” He asked softly, and after a moment Hongbin shook his head.

“I’m sorry, then. Is there something you’d rather hear as a compliment?”

Hongbin’s brow furrowed again, but now in thought, and maybe confusion.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t know any compliments… At least none that aren’t mocking…” He admitted quietly, almost ashamed, and Taekwoon felt his heart break.

“I would never give you mocking compliments, Hongbin. When I compliment you, you can rest assured that I mean it. I wouldn’t mock you, or anything about you. And neither would Hakyeon, by the way.”

Hongbin grimaced at the mention of Hakyeon’s name.

“I… I hissed at him…”

Taekwoon gave him a questioning look.

“If… if he really wasn’t mocking me… I shouldn’t have hissed at him.”

Taekwoon hummed.

“If you’ve never been given that compliment when it wasn’t mocking, you had no way of knowing he wasn’t mocking you, though…”

Hongbin sighed quietly.

“I need to apologize to him…”

Taekwoon was a little surprised by that.

“You want to?”

Hongbin hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

“Ok. That’s nice. I’m sure that will make Hakyeon feel better.”

Hongbin looked positively contrite at being reminded he upset Hakyeon, and Taekwoon clucked his tongue at him.

“Hongbin, don’t beat yourself up over it. It was a misunderstanding, from both sides. You can clear it up eventually, without either side having to feel bad about it.”

Hongbin sighed but tried to believe Taekwoon’s words. Still, apologizing to Hakyeon meant something else had to happen, too.

“Can you invite Hakyeon again?”

Taekwoon rose an eyebrow at that.

“You want to?”

“I have to apologize.”

Taekwoon hummed, thinking about it.

“True, I suppose… When do you think would be a good time to invite him again?”

Hongbin’s eyes widened at being given the choice.

“I can choose?!”

Taekwoon shrugged.

“Sure. We’ll of course have to see if both Hakyeon and I have time then, but sure.”

Hongbin gnawed on his bottom lip, thinking about it.

“I don’t know… but… soon?”

“Ok. How soon?”

Being allowed to make decisions like this was a thrilling sensation, Hongbin found, but also hard.

“Maybe… Tomorrow? For dinner?”

Taekwoon barely suppressed a gasp. He hadn’t expected that at all, not that soon!

“O-ok. That’s… very soon, but ok. I’ll ask him.”

Hongbin was still chewing on his lip, now worried.

“Is it too soon? I-… We… maybe another day, then?”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“It’s ok. I’ll ask first. But if it doesn’t work out, would another evening for dinner be ok with you, sometime this week?”

Hongbin nodded hastily, and Taekwoon smiled, positively surprised by the turn the events of the day were taking.

“Ok. I’ll talk to him later. Now, what do you say to getting off these cold tiles and maybe to the living room?”

It was a good idea, Hongbin found, his starting to find the cold, hard tiles quite uncomfortable, too, and he got up. Sheepishly, he also picked up the container with leftovers he’d been eating out of, going about cleaning it out. Taekwoon puttered around for a bit in the kitchen, too, turning to leave at about the same time Hongbin was done with cleaning the container and leaving it to dry by the sink.

There was something on Hongbin’s mind he still had to get out now, though, before Taekwoon left, so he called out to him.

“Taekwoon?”

Taekwoon stopped in the door, turning around to him.

“Yes?”

“Can I… can I give compliments, too?”

Taekwoon found the question odd, but he’d learned to just accept them, coming from Hongbin.

“Of course.”

“And… is saying… is saying that someone has a… a beautiful laugh, a compliment?”

Taekwoon smiled softly, endeared.

“Yes, it is. It’s a nice compliment. Do you want to tell Hakyeon he has a beautiful laugh?” It was a logic assumption, but to his surprise, Hongbin shook his head.

“No. You.”

Taekwoon spluttered at that. Now, that was unexpected!

“Wha- Me? I have a-… Oh… I-… Thank you, Hongbin…!”

Hongbin felt his face grow warm again, just like earlier when Taekwoon had thanked him, but now he at least wasn’t the only one, judging by the colour of Taekwoon’s own face and ears.

------

A/N: Heyy! So, Hongbin met Hakyeon. Kinda. Well, at least he wants to meet him again now, right? Listen, scared kitten need time to warm up to people. At least I can promise it's not gonna take him 10 chapters to kinda warm up to Hakyeon. 

Anyway, I tried to give you all a nice long chapter again because now I start work again after this forced rather long break (since my source of income is working as a tutor/homeschooling teacher, and the summer break here is 3 months long, that means 3 months without work. And without pay. Yay. I'm over the whole being broke thing tbh), and while I work, I won't have a lot of time to write. I'll try to keep the monthly updates, but it might stretch a bit sometimes. Sorry in advance if that happens. 

As always, if you liked this chapter, upvote, subscribe, and if you feel that way inclined, please let me know your thoughts, feels, reactions in form of a comment to let me know I'm not posting this into a void. And if you can, I'd apreciate it more than ever if you could leave me a tip, over here. Either way, if you read all the way until this point, I appreciate you <3