(Taec)

It was finally the end of my shift. I placed my hand around my neck and jerked my head on both sides, to loosen the stiffness from the day’s work. Languidly, I joined the queue to board the bus that would take us back to town. Walking down the aisle, a slender body, whose eyes was closed and fingers still rubbing his head, leaned against the window on one of the seats, caught my eye. I bit my inner cheek, hesitant if I should take the seat next to him, which I ended up doing, subconsciously. Sitting down really slowly and gently, not wanting to disturb him or whatsoever, I turned my head only to find Woo looking at me, and of course grinning as well.

‘You feeling better?’ I asked with much concern, since he still didn’t look well.

‘I’m alright,’ he said weakly, ‘it’s just that, I haven’t eaten anything the entire day, I’m totally drained.’

‘Let me take you out for a meal when we return to Seoul? How about that?’

His eyes enlarged and shone brightly (in a split second he looked much better than he did before), ‘just the two of us?’

‘Mhmm,’ I nodded reluctantly, ‘just the two of us.’

‘Yay ok!’

At that moment, I honestly couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at how innocent (well, not-so-innocent actually) he was.

‘Then… can you lend me your shoulders for now.’ and he not-so-subtly wound his arms round mine, fingers almost interlocking, and placed his head against my shoulder. Was that meant to be a rhetorical question? 

My eyes widened, breathing quickened. I didn’t dare to turn and take a look at him. Some of my colleagues who were sitting in front of us, turned around and cheekily gave me a thumbs up, which only earned themselves a middle finger of course.

Midway through the journey back to the city, the vibrations of my mobile startled me. Moving slowly to get my mobile which was in my pocket, I took a glance at the caller ID and answered the call.

‘Hello,’ I whispered.

-‘why are you speaking so softly?’ Khun asked.

‘I’m on the public bus right now and there’s a colleague sleeping beside me now.’

-‘Oh…’

‘It’s alright, I’m not asleep,’ Woo sat up a little but still left his arms wounded around mine.

-‘Is that… ‘Taecyeon hyung’ who’s beside you now?’ he teased.

‘Mmm,’ I answered curtly.

-‘Hmm… in that case, would you be free to meet up later for dinner?’

I glanced down at Woo, and pursed my lips.

‘Today… I don’t think it’s possible,’ I apologetically declined him.

-‘Damn, in that case… Never mind its ok then. We can always talk another time. I shan’t disturb you and your ‘Taecyeon hyung’’

‘C’mon, speak. Tell me about it.’

Khun sighed loudly over the phone. -‘She looks really pretty, eloquent, mesmerising. Absolutely capable at work, treats me well. No, she treats me really really really well. The main point is, she calls me Khunnie and you know how hyper sensitive I am towards that name, but when she says it, it’s different. Tell me what I should do, Taec.’

‘What do you mean? What you should do?’

-‘Should I make an effort with her?’

I bit my lips. Should I let him make an effort with her? ‘If it’s worth making the effort, then you should try.’

-‘Problem is… I don’t know ugh.’ Khun groaned in frustration.

-‘You think I’m crazy too right? ‘Cause I think I am.’

‘Of course not,’ I defended, ‘I guess it was just not all unexpected. And she has great tastes.’

-‘Really?’

‘Yes really,’ I reassured him.

-‘So… I’m gonna make an effort with her alright?’

‘Yep! Hwaiting.’ I encouragingly said.

-‘You too. Ok bye I’ll call you later or something.’

Removing the phone from my ear, I clicked onto the ‘end call’ key and placed it back into my pocket.

‘Taecyeon hyung, can I ask… who is he?’ Woo quizzed softly.

‘A friend.’ I stated.

‘Boyfriend?’

‘Just a friend.’ I emphasised. So he did know of my uality.

Woo sat up, finally lifting his head off my shoulder.

‘Can there really be a pure friendship between two men in this era?’

I frowned in confusion. ‘That was really just a friend.’

He nodded in understanding, he smiled a little, the end corner of his lips curving up.

‘Why are you smiling?’ I asked, puzzled by his reaction.

‘If you are telling me the truth, then I should smile happily but if you lied, then I should be smiling even more happily ‘cause you lied, because of me.’

‘Right…’ I mumbled awkwardly.

And Woo’s grin just became wider, tugging my arm closer to his body and laying his head down to rest again.

*

‘Woo~’ I hummed his name as we both stared intently at the menu.

‘Yeah Taecyeon hyung?’

‘Do you have any allergies? Or any food you don’t like?’ I asked.

‘Eh… nope, I eat almost everything. Why do you-’

‘Hi may I take your orders?’ A waiter appeared, cutting Woo off.

I cleared my throat and glanced at Woo, indicating to him to make his order first.

‘I’ll have a New York fish n chips.’

‘And I’ll have the baby ribs, a baked potato and spinach salad. Oh and could you cook his fish n chips in olive oil? Any extra charges for that, just put it to the bill. Thank you,’ I smiled while closing the menu and passed it to the waiter.

As the waiter walked away, Woo leaned forward, and asked in utter amazement, ‘you’re gonna eat that much Taecyeon hyung?’

I chortled at his innocence and stated. ‘Yes and no, the baked potato, spinach salad and the change of oil are actually for your migraine.’

‘Hmm… why do you understand such things so well? I think it’s very dangerous if it’s like that.’

‘Dangerous?’ I frowned, not really understanding his point.

‘Yep. Because, if it’s like that, I’ll fal-’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: fal.....? hehe just to tease you guys LOL next chapter should be up soon. and i just realised how slow this would go so i'll try to quicken the pace of the story (: