Pre-chapter note:
Ok, so I have two things to be sorry for before you start the chapter:
a. Sorry for the wait, for being on hiatus for so long... Life has been a hectic mess and university has been stressful to say the least...
b. Sorry for coming back with a painfully short chapter D: I promise I'll write more next time round!
Anyway, hope this taster's going to be enjoyable!

Jaehyun’s lips tasted faintly of strawberries and brine. Taeyong had stopped crying now and they stood facing each other, the tips of their noses brushing lightly. It was as if both of them were encapsulated in a trance that the muggy air seemed to still, neither willing to break the magic. It was eons later when Taeyong freed himself from Jaehyun’s embrace and took several steps back, his gaze glued to the floor. Jaehyun mirrored Taeyong’s motion and moved in his direction. Jaehyun knew he needed Taeyong, couldn’t stand the fact that Taeyong was always trying to keep him at a distance. Their kiss were nothing like his encounter with the girls at the bar several nights ago. That was greed and lust. This was passion and affection. Taeyong’s touch had sent adrenaline coursing through his body. It was as if the two were magnetically attracted that Jaehyun continued to gravitate towards the older. He wanted to be near him, to calm the older, to be his safe haven.

Yet it was then that Jaehyun suddenly noticed Taeyong’s soiled t-shirt, traces of gravelly stains and creases lining his usually spotless garment. Jaehyun anxiously picked up his pace and lifted Taeyong’s chin so that their gazes met, sparks shooting up Jaehyun’s spine once again. Taeyong’s ethereal beauty and vulnerability was something that would never fail to amaze him, Jaehyun mused. Taeyong was unreadable as always, lips pursed into a thin line yet still avoiding Jaehyun’s line of sight.

‘Hyung, what happened?’ Jaehyun asked, finally breaking the silence that had ensued ever since the episode.

‘Nothing,’ Taeyong shook his head.

‘Taeyong, you can tell me,’ Jaehyun pleaded, ‘I’m always here for you.’

‘It was wrong of me to come barging in,’ Taeyong was evidently fazed by their earlier intimacy that he paid no attention to what Jaehyun was saying.

Taeyong’s gaze darted toward the door as he slowly shifted himself away from Jaehyun for the umpteenth time.

‘I should leave,’ Taeyong said with such firmness and assertion that Jaehyun knew it would be unfair to make him stay. It was as if the air had shifted and Jaehyun realised for the first that that he was the vulnerable one now. It wasn’t Taeyong who needed Jaehyun’s comfort, but rather Jaehyun who longed for the other’s presence.

Without so much as a goodbye, Taeyong sauntered out of the flat, leaving Jaehyun very much bewildered, the taste of strawberries still lingering dumbfounded on the tip of his tongue.

A quick dinner and shower later, the image of Taeyong entwined in his arms was still emblazoned in his mind. It was so frustrating to have someone so dear always shoving you away, not letting you on into their anxieties. but that was how Taeyong was, a million secrets cooped up in that tiny figure o