Part XIV(455 words)
The Plea

Taemin had done his best to not look as guilty as he felt, quickly flinging the evidence into the dryer as he sprayed his living room with air freshener—not that it smelled particularly bad, but one could never be too safe when the man you were probably in love with was coming over to give you a therapy session right after you had just ed to his face.

And now here they were, Jinki was sitting on one side of the couch, Taemin fidgeting uncomfortably next to him, his face tomato red. He could not even make eye contact with Jinki for the past fifteen minutes that the elder had been inside his apartment, afraid that just one look would reveal the embarrassment and guilt that bubbled inside him.

After a few more beats of silence, Jinki’s softened voice broke the tension. “What’s wrong, Taemin-ah?”

Taemin jumps at the sound of his name, startled by the gentleness in the therapist’s voice, flushing down to his chest when he recalls the contrast from dream Jinki’s breathy hiss—‘You asked for this.’

“W-What?” the younger yelps as he quickly turned to face Jinki, gaze fixed on the elder man’s forehead, completely caught off-guard. “What m-makes you think anything is wrong?”

Taemin wondered if Jinki could tell he was not meeting his eyes.

“Well, for one thing,” Jinki begins, giving the other man a skeptical look with one eyebrow neatly arched, “you haven’t even looked me in the eyes once since I got here.”

Oh. So he could tell. Of course, he’s not an idiot, Taemin reprimands himself, feeling even more self-conscious than before. The younger man parts his lips to deny the accusation, his eyes finally connecting with Jinki’s concentrated ones, and suddenly Taemin’s mouth dries inconveniently, his words sticking to his tongue like glue. He finds that he cannot look away and Jinki is not making it any easier, continuing to make eye contact even as Taemin flounders in front of him in search of words he could not make himself say.

Jinki sighs with resignation, already beginning to stand up before he begins speaking. “Obviously you don’t feel comfortable with me here.” He takes a few steps towards the door, looking back for a second, his expression almost resigned and as a result Taemin’s heart clenches painfully in his chest.

Taemin stands up as well, opening his mouth to try to stop him, but Jinki is already speaking again. “It’s alright, Taemin-ah. We’ll talk tomorrow in my office—I’ll just see myself out.”

And suddenly everything seems all too familiar.

The words are tumbling past his lips before he can think to stop them. “Wait!”

As if on cue, the lights suddenly go out.