# o1
Hushed Melancholy
# o1
‘In this melancholy, shall I speak up?’
No.
‘In this melancholy, shall I give up?’
No.
‘In this melancholy, shall I – ‘
“Gotcha! Writing a love letter to your girlfriend?” Kibum teased the surprised boy.
“No, I’m not. Key, give me back my paper,” Taemin stated firm and stern, palm held out to the taller lad.
“Not until you tell me what this ‘melancholy’ thingy is about? You’ve written this all over your papers lately. People notice, you know?”
“I – Can we not talk about this?”
“You always change your topic.”
“I know.”
“Taemin – “
“Don’t you still get it when I’m always changing topic?” It sounded so suggestive.
Taemin and his intense gaze that bored into Kibum’s eyes eventually made the older boy zipped his mouth. Kibum turned away from the boy and focused on his paperwork. He continued his typing on the keyboard, lips puckering as he whistled to random melody. It sounded so slow and cautious since they were in the library. Taemin still had a small frown stuck on his pale face when Kibum gave him a short peeping glance.
“Where are you going?” Kibum asked, instantly stopped typing.
“I’m going home. Bye, Key.”
Taemin gathered up his things and put everything into his bag. Kibum was unforeseen of this situation and unintentionally gave short nods to the boy. Taemin walked out of the library and ultimately left Kibum’s view by a small dot. Kibum turned his head back to the screen and sighed weakly. Get over it, won’t you, he thought.
The sun was up gold and vivid like a colossal shining orb; the sky was calming blue dotted with fluffy pure white clouds hanging so low that Minho thought he could snatch it with his hand. He narrowed his eyes reflexively as he tried to look at the sun. It was sun-drenched and he had a good feeling about today.
“Hey, it’s not good to look directly at the sun,” Jinki advised from his side.
Minho only laughed his charming mannish chuckle and turned to offer a long stare at Jinki. The elder fought the stare back and moved his face closer. Minho slowly but sharply cringed away from the attempt to lips-kissing.
“Boo! I know you don’t like that,” Jinki laughed.
“Shut up.”
“Boo boo boo! Treat me lunch. I won the staring contest.”
“Shut up, hyung.”
“I want chicken for lunch. Come o –”
“No, I’m serious. Quiet down for a moment.”
Jinki finally shut his mouth up and gulped when Minho’s face turned serious. He, too, turned towards the direction Minho was slanting his head and his eyes rounded when a figure of a boy met his sight from afar.
“You like him?” Jinki asked inquisitively.
Minho shook his head.
“I love him.”
“Isn’t he the boy from the public library?”
“Yes. He’s so pretty from here. Can you give me a hand?”
“Sure. But the chicken still counts.”
“Okay. I’ll treat you chicken for lunch later on.”
Minho and Jinki carefully paved their way to the thin boy that was wiping the smooth glass with a piece of old white cloth. The boy was not aware of their presence behind him. Minho cleared his throat intentionally loud to catch his concentration.
“May I help you?” The boy asked civilly.
“I think we’ve met before, don’t you think so?” Minho hinted, being flirty.
“Even so, it’s not my problem.”
“Do you want to join us for lunch at some chicken place?”
Minho glared over at the chicken-addicted man and heaved a dramatic sigh. He shooed Jinki a little and rooted his feet near the boy. Once he wanted something, he would try to achieve no matter what. He placed his elbow against the wiped glass and dragged his body closer to the boy.
“Mister, please do not disturb me while I’m working. While I’m kindly asking you to move away, please do so,” The boy sternly talked to Minho.
Minho was dumbfounded for a while.
“Have a nice day,” The boy said before proceeding to his wiping duty.
It did not take much time before Minho and Jinki were already a few meters away from the boy, pacing along their way. Minho huffed and balled up his fist. He pumped his fist on his palm and exhaled harshly.
“Hyung, I’m going to get along with the boy by hook or by crook,” Minho whispered with poise; his competitiveness peaking up high.
“Wake up, Taemin. You’ve been sleeping on the couch for hours. Your mom is irritating. She’d been calling us for thousands,” Kibum chirped.
“Urgh, is there any progress?”
“Hmm, no.”
“Okay.”
“Taemin – “
“What time is it now?” Taemin asked while having his face masked by the pillow.
“6.30 p.m.”
“I’m hungry. Let’s order some pizza? Or maybe chicken?”
Kibum took his wallet and spared a hopeful look as he peeked into the item. A tiny smile grew on his face as he put down the wallet onto the table. He jumped onto Taemin and laid his body on Taemin’s smaller one, inhaling the scent of the boy.
“I’ll go for pizza. You?” Kibum asked, slanting his head at Taemin.
“Pizza, now get off my body.”
“I love you like I love pizza, baby.”
“Thank you. Now, off. You’re heavy,” Taemin moaned.
Kibum obeyed the order and reached for his Samsung Note III. He dialed for the famous Italian Restaurant near their housing compound. The worker answered his call after raising his tedium since the third beep. He ordered for a few boxes of pizza and put the gadget down. After fifteen minutes of nothing, he slowly turned bored.
“Want to play something while waiting?” Kibum suggested while grinning.
“No.”
“Taem – “
Their doorbell rang.
“Want me to get it?” Taemin asked, wearing his crumpled shirt.
“Since I’ve called and will be paying for these – “
“Sure thing.”
Taemin raised himself off the couch and grabbed some cash from Kibum’s wallet before beginning to saunter his path to the door. He absolutely ignored the yells that Kibum shot at him for taking extra cash. The older man continuingly cried at Taemin to return the change even a penny.
“How much are these exactly?” Taemin asked, counting the notes in his hand.
“Emm…”
“My friend is really stingy. Come on.”
It did not require many steps before Kibum was already launched from the floor onto Taemin’s bony back. The younger boy was alarmed by the abrupt hard force and burden on his back. He howled at Kibum but the childish older man merely fastened his arms around the boy’s neck. They struggled for a few moments immaturely in front of the pizza delivery man. In the long run, the man cleared his throat. For certainty, he had more works to be done.
“I’m sorry, Mister. He just won’t listen to me,” Kibum exhaled breathlessly.
“No, it’s okay. Here’s your change. Enjoy the pizzas. Have a nice day,” The man greeted before walking away from the closing door.
Taemin gawked at Kibum with a strong stare after closing and locking the door. Kibum looked back with a ‘what-are-you-looking-at’ countenance on his face. He flipped his hair and palmed his vaguely wrinkled shirt.
“Never embarrass me like that again.”
“Who humiliate who now?” Taemin cried noisily, stamping his feet.
“I was on duty for wiping windows yesterday. From nowhere, someone came and greeted me. He proposed that we had met before. Funny, isn’t it? I think we did meet before but I never thought of people to recognize my face. By the way, I had pizzas for dinner last night with Kibum. We acted so childish in front of the pizza delivery man. It was so humiliating. Hmm… I hope we all can be together again…”
I know that some of you have read this chapter. I just copied it back from the original. Please drop your feedback. ^^ Thanks for reading.
Love,
sapphysw
P.S: Any Mahomie here? By the way, it's Austin Mahone up there~
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