A/N

Disclaimer: I have used a quote from a great book which was written in 2004 - I know it takes away from the authenticity a little because the story is set in the late 1980s. Please pretend it's a book written before 1990. I read it this past month and the quote was too perfect for that scene to not use it. (I do also highly recommend reading it, especially if you are interested in autism! Here is a link where you can also listen to it (I think the audiobook is free(?)))
Enjooooooy <3

17:35

Minho arrived at the café at the same time as always, enjoying the familiar sound of the bell as he was opening the door. He knew that Taemin was here when he saw the perfectly made coffee on his table. It was good that Taemin was here because the other had promised to work on his handwriting and Minho was going to make him practice. He had even brought some pre-written practice sheets which he put together into a small booklet. It was filled with characters that the younger was supposed to imitate.

That little booklet was sitting in his bag, waiting to be given to its new owner. Minho was very satisfied with the outcome - though he had re-done some of the pages twice, he could say that he had completed it in a decent amount of time.

After sitting down on his chair, Minho took out the booklet to go over it one last time to give it to Taemin when the other turned up at his table.

For a while the autistic male sat on his chair, drinking his caffee latte while inspecting the sheets he had written last night, checking if his examples were neat enough for Taemin to learn from – which they were.

As time went on Taemin did not join him at the table and Minho was starting to wonder if he was even here. He couldn’t hear sounds from the kitchen and there was no one in the coffee shop either. Maybe the younger left? Minho didn’t know and started looking for a note. There was one on the other side of the table – a small piece of paper that Minho hadn’t registered before.

With careful hands, he opened the folded sheet, then setting his eyes on the badly written characters he despised so much.

Minho,

I am so sorry that I took you to the beach two days ago. I wanted to prove that we can do everything other people can do as well because I do not see you as different. It was a mistake and I hope you can forgive me for trying something so foolish. If you want to talk about it tell me. I’ll be in the back, reading.

XX

Taemin

Minho rolled his eyes. Taemin’s phrasing was so awkward and the added Xs in the end were nothing he ever wanted to see again.

Going to the beach had indeed been awful. He remembered the feeling of shattered glass digging into his feet, the wind messing with his hair as well as the heavy smell of fishy salt water in his nose. It had been so many sensations that he could barely remember how they had made it back to Taemin’s house.

The obsession people seemed to have with the beauty of the sea, Minho did not understand. There were uncountable poems about waves filling the heart of a lost soul, there were phantastic stories about underwater kingdoms, lost places that were rumoured to have existed but none of these were mentioning how the sand digs into one’s flesh as if a glass broke inside one’s shoe.

Minho knew that he was not like others – it was quite obvious – but in moments like these he always felt as if the “normal” people were the ones who were strange. How such discomfort would be enjoyable? He had no idea.

One thing he knew was that Taemin would have to improve his writing massively to make up for the discomfort he had felt with the expedition to the seaside.

17:54

Taemin did not come out of the backroom, afraid of bothering Minho who didn’t seem to want to talk to him at the moment. It has been over 15 minutes since the older arrived and sat down at his usual table and therefore must have read his note already.

Maybe he really ed up this time?

Taemin really hoped for Minho to come to talk to him. To call for him… to at least leave a note.

As soon as he heard the bell at the door a second time – announcing that Minho had left the café - Taemin jumped up to walk over to the table - hoping he would have left something for him.

Instead of a note, he found a bundle of paper, neatly put together with a piece of thread. On first sight, Taemin had no idea what he had in his hands, wondering what Minho left for him. Curious as he was, he opened the self-made booklet and his eyes were caught by lines and lines of pre-written characters. As he turned the pages there were more. Pages upon pages full of different characters, always combined with a blank sheet of paper to write them without any guidance.

“Choi Minho. You are unbelievable.” Taemin mumbled as he closed the small booklet.

He had known that the older would remember his promise. He wasn’t one to forget things like this; but he hadn’t expected him to create such a practice booklet – it must have taken him hours to get this done and Taemin wasn’t quite sure when he would have had time to work on this as exams were around the corner, taking up most of the time he wasn’t spending with Minho.

18:14

It turned out that Taemin indeed had time to practice his writing as Minho was denying him any conversation, any touch probably until he had filled the whole booklet with his writing exercises. Taemin asked the older several times if it wouldn’t be nice to have a small conversation before they started to work on their respective things – Taemin on ameliorating his handwriting and Minho reading the newest edition of his literary publication – to which the autistic male didn’t have much to say:

“Keep your promise first. Then we talk.” he stated simply, repeating that exact sentence every single time Taemin tried to get him to speak to him.

“Whatever Choi.” The younger said with a huff – complying nevertheless.

16:56

It took Taemin a week and a half to completely fill all the empty pages of the booklet Minho had made, and he had to admit that he seemed to improve with each page he filled. His characters got straighter, sharper and in general a lot steadier. It just left the question if Minho would be satisfied with these. 

The filled booklet was waiting on Minho’s table while Taemin was taking care of the orders of the remaining few customers whom he would ask to leave within the next twenty minutes. He was skipping around the café, quite sure that today, they would finally get to be together properly again. He watered the freshly purchased plants when someone called for him.

“Taemin?” Someone said, making him turn around to face one of the regulars. It was a woman probably around his age who had been coming to the café for a few months ever since she had been taken along by some of her friends whom he had known for quite a while as well.

“Yeah?” He asked, wondering what she wanted from him. Despite her coming almost every second day, they hadn’t spoken a whole lot – mostly because she never approached him and Taemin wasn’t someone to bother his guests.

“I was wondering if I could stay a bit longer today – it is raining, and I didn’t bring an umbrella.” She said, twisting her hair around one of her fingers

Taemin looked at the clock on the wall; Minho would be here in less than fifteen minutes and he really didn’t feel like sharing this evening with anyone but him as he was hoping to finally be able to have a decent conversation with his boyfriend again after being starved for almost two weeks.

“I…” He started but Joohyun interrupted.

“Please? Just until the rain stops. I won’t bother you. I can also help cleaning.”

“That’s not it…” Taemin said, putting the watering can on the floor before he elaborated. “There is another guest coming at 17:35 and he doesn’t do well with strangers, so we make everyone leave by then.”

“You do that for a customer? Is that even profitable?” she asked with a frown on her face.

“Don’t you worry about our profit. We barely have expenses, so we are fine.” Taemin answered glancing outside only to see the rain getting heavier. He sighed. “You can stay in the backroom but please don’t come out of there until I come and get you.”

“Thanks so much. I owe you something.” Joohyun said with a smile turning around to get her stuff. “You want to come spend the time with me?”

Taemin stared at her blankly for a few seconds before he understood what was happening.

“Oh… uhm. I’ll be here for the guest. If you need something you can knock on the door twice, I’ll bring you what you need.” Taemin said awkwardly.

“I’ll show you the room” he then added when Joohyun wasn’t replying.

A few minutes later, he had shown the woman around, letting her sit at the small desk where his grandmother usually took care of the administrative.

“I’ll get you when the rain stops.” Taemin said and Joohyun nodded.

“Sure. Thank you.” She said and Taemin closed the door after him, immediately starting to prepare Minho’s coffee. He just hoped everything would turn out fine.

17:35

Minho walked into the café, his shoes wet and his umbrella dripping water onto the dry floor. It wasn’t nice. But he knew that he had a new pair stored at the café – including socks, so he would be alright as soon as he got to the cupboard on the western wall.

The water was moving inside his shoes and he hated it. The cupboard was closed which was great because it meant that his things were probably still in there. His hands pulled the little doors open and he pulled out the new pair of shoes, the socks, and a small towel he could use to dry his feet. Wet feet were awful, but he had found a way to handle them as it was hard to avoid when he had to go to the café every day. That also included days when it heavily rained – such as today.

Rain was interesting. He had always liked the sound of rain but only as long as he was inside. He had never known why that was. Why did he enjoy the sound of rain? His question was answered by Mark Haddon who wrote:

“On the fifth day, which was a Sunday, it rained very hard. I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.”

                Haddon, Mark. (2004) The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-time

Being alone had always felt good. He liked the silence that it brought, it let him concentrate on his readings and didn’t bother him by stimulating him unnecessarily. The emptiness on the other hand, he despised. He liked being on his own, but he didn’t like being alone. The rain turned out to be a wonderful companion, filling his ears with a constantly repeating sound, reassuring him that he was still in this world. Reassuring him that he wasn’t in the empty while offering him its protection.

Shortly, he had changed his shoes, his feet now in the new pair, completely dried.

The latte was a little warmer than usual, but Minho spotted the booklet he had given to Taemin the moment he wanted to call for the younger after taking the first sip of coffee, so he refrained from complaining.

Had Taemin finally finished it? Minho had been expecting the other to give it back a few days after receiving it, always entering the café, being sure that he would find it on the table – just that 10 days passed without him returning it. At one point he had wondered if Taemin would ever give it back at all.

Finally, he could use the note he had had ready ever since he first gave the booklet to the younger. Gently he opened his bag, looking for the book he had placed it in. It was a great book. A little older than most he usually gave out.

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.”

               Sophocles. (441 BC), Antigone

It was a good quote. Minho liked it a lot because despite knowing from the start that going to the beach would be a mistake, he had let Taemin take him anyway. It was important for him to know if the younger could admit to his mistakes and “repair the evil”.

Minho was glad that Taemin did, in fact, care – the filled-out booklet being proof enough.

With gentle fingers, he skipped through it, enjoying the progress the younger had made over the past week. Now, he would just have to see him write out a small paragraph to see if all these exercises influenced his handwriting.

“Taemin, come here!” He said, knowing that the younger wouldn’t be far.

A/N

Hi everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is a little filler I am sorry. there will be three more chapters because this whole storyline has been squeezed inside despite me planing to end it on chapter 26.

I feel like it is getting more boring by the chapter so I am quite excited to have it wrapped up soon. I don't want to bore you.
As always, I would love to see you in the comments and hope you have a great day!!

XX

R