The morning, the dawn, the beginning if you wish – the part of the day where the promises of the remaining of the day seem positive and one could feel optimistic about how it is going to pass. Taehyung liked the mornings because he found it the only part of the day where he could properly do… nothing. He just stared out of the glass window, didn’t think about anything, didn’t worry about anything, didn’t bother revising for the possible quiz his professor might give just about the next class he had. Mornings were the time Taehyung allowed himself to relax, even if it was for just fifteen minutes.

But one particular sunny April morning he woke up with a killer headache and somehow drinking a gallon of water and taking a few pills seemed a lot more tempting than his usual routine of nothingness.

After the pill helped his temples stop pulsating as furiously, Taehyung realized that he did not remember much from the previous night. Perhaps there wasn’t that much to remember anyways, or so he wished.

But while he was looking for his favorite crackers to snack on, hidden somewhere in his mess of a room, something in his mind kept alerting him that last night was, in fact, different from any other Friday night that had passed since he started attending university. His memories were still blurry and hazy, maybe because of the intoxication that still hadn’t fully left his body, which was the main reason for his headache too.

There were some bits and pieces of the passed event lingering in his mind, but not clear enough. He remembered Jimin dragging him along to the cheap fast food restaurant where they usually ate at, but soon after they were approached by some of Jimin’s calculus class seniors, they moved location. They ended up in the dormitory of the mentioned upperclassmen that was full of people Taehyung definitely hadn’t seen before, although it was located on the campus of the same university he attended.

And Taehyung hated alcohol, he really did, but his best friend chose to ignore that seemingly insignificant detail and Taehyung had no choice but to deal with the shots of the smelly and burning liquid that the people he didn’t know kept giving him. It wasn’t like he had never drank before, but he disliked it. But Jimin deserved it, he thought then, to spend one night close to person he admired, so he didn’t leave immediately, though Taehyung might have had cursed him a few times when his throat felt like it was about to dissolve.

Then his mind focused on the memories of a foreign feeling similar to electricity that pierced all of his senses and left tiny marks all over his neck and he cursed at his best friend again, because he dragged him to a place this dangerous. The electricity wasn’t really the presence and flow of the electric range some might think, but rather the hands, lips and light touches of a person he really couldn’t remember. The previous night had been something unplanned and unusual for Taehyung, a night that that threw him off his usual routine, but for some reason the feelings of regret and contrition for allowing himself to become the host of the toxic substance, that was the pure tequila, weren’t present, yet. There was something about the way his body felt that was hinting him that it wasn’t all bad hiding behind the blurry mess that were his memories right now.

His attention slowly came back to that slight alerting sound in the back of his head, but the reason behind it was finally visible. A figure stretched out of the bed Taehyung usually slept in and lazily rolled off of it. After a good session of eye rubbing and yawning, the same figure stood up and approached Taehyung, who failed to recognize the unfamiliar face. That at least explained why had Taehyung woken up on the couch.

The person, a boy, stood taller than Taehyung, but just barely. His features were soft – straight nose with a subtle upturned tip, heavy-lidded eyes and a really messy hair with a color quite similar to a hazelnut. He didn’t seem any surprised to be waking up in an unknown room, unknown bed and meeting the cautious gaze of an unknown person. In fact, there was a small, but still visible half-smile fitted across his face.

“Well,” he started, voice still groggy, “good morning!”

Taehyung tried hard, he really did, but the face didn’t ring a bell. But the voice did, it sounded ridiculously familiar, making him feel way less… surprised? Shocked? Nervous? Scared? How does one feel when there is a stranger sleeping in your bed anyways?

“Who are you?” Taehyung’s voice came out gruff and scratchy, concealing any signs of the utter shock that a stranger just rolled off of his own bed that would’ve been noticeable otherwise.

And the person laughed, a sound so brilliant and sincere escaped his lips. It didn’t exactly reach his still half-closed eyes, but it wasn’t a mocking laugh, but one genuine.

“Is my name really important?” He asked idly, sitting on the chair on the opposite of Taehyung after thinking about it first.

“I guess not, not important at least, but you are in my room and I don’t really know you,” the boy retorted carefully, but continued eating his breakfast absentmindedly. He was more confused because of his own lack of rational reaction than because of the, what seemed like, older boy sitting in front of him, dressed in white t-shirt and jeans that were crinkled to no end.

“But you don’t seem bothered by my presence that much, and I could be dangerous,” the boy with hazelnut like hair said calmly, a subtle playfulness showing in his eyes, indicating everything but danger. Taehyung wondered why was his voice so painfully familiar, when nothing else was. Then he thought that he had a point. After all, Taehyung has never really been a reckless person or the type to break the rules, yet the figure in front of him, that was breaking some really basic rules by just being in his room, wasn’t alerting him enough. Why wasn’t he bothered?

After dwelling on what to answer for a while Taehyung remembered the red spots he found on his neck earlier in the morning and the still memories of someone’s lips on his own and the concern about what happened after getting wasted, unwillingly, finally started kicking in. Short, but vivid images played in his head, as if trying to help him remember, but he couldn’t.

“Did we,” he stopped and properly looked at the person that was also staring at him, albeit being a lot calmer than Taehyung himself, “why are you here?” he concluded in the end, even though that wasn’t his original question.

“It’s probably what you think. You got drunk, your friend politely ditched you to have some more private time with one of the seniors and you were left alone in the verge of puking. It was obvious that you weren’t much of a drinker and I knew that if I just left you there, the seniors would’ve probably driven you to a state a lot worse than you already were in, so I brought you out. You lead the way to your own dorm and voila!” the anonymous boy exclaimed and smiled again, though it was more of that same playful one from earlier. “And we did end up kissing a little, but hey, don’t blame me if you don’t remember, I was a little tipsy too,” the nameless boy explained ever so calmly, and waited for Taehyung to react in any way.

The owner of the room nodded barely, but he felt that redness was spreading on his neck anyways. He knew all kinds of stories about what usually happened in university dorms, especially when there was alcohol, but he hadn’t really been a part of such a story, or until last night that is.

“Don’t worry,” the person started again in a softer tone, seeing the embarrassment and confusion that spread across Taehyung’s face, “that’s all we did if you are wondering. I promise. I was really too knocked out to go back to my room, so I stayed here after you told me I can, although that was probably the alcohol talking.”

Taehyung still wasn’t all too sure how to react, it was as if his brain was numbing down his ability to be rational. All of it sounded as if it had happened to someone else, but he knew that those red smudges were not just a hallucination, so the boy couldn’t be lying.

“I’m going to leave now, it was never my intention to make you this uncomfortable. Sorry for crashing in uninvited like this,” the nameless boy stated after observing the conflicted expression that was occupying the owner of the room’s face.

Taehyung looked at the unknown boy again, curious about the concerned way he had just spoken in, as if Taehyung was someone important. The nameless wrapped a jacket around his shoulders and grabbed the beanie that way lying on the floor next to the bed and made his way to the door, nodding at the younger boy in the process.

“Hey,” Taehyung found himself saying just before he was left alone, “want some breakfast?”

The features of the stranger twisted into pure curiosity, but he nodded nonetheless.

“You helped me out last night, so you can’t be that dangerous,” Taehyung continued, answering the questioning look on the other’s face, and got up to reheat whatever was left in his tiny fridge. He knew he was being observed by the other, but that didn’t bother him at the moment because his mind was preoccupied with the information he had received few moments prior.

The morning was slowly transiting into midday, soft spring rays of sunlight gently illuminating the room trough the same window Taehyung would have had occupied on any other morning.

“I’ve never kissed a boy before,” he confessed after a few moments of silence, but the other boy could not read the emotion that accompanied the sudden confession.

Oh, the stranger thought then.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They both munched on their food in silence, no one daring to look at the other. Taehyung didn’t know why did he suddenly confess that, as the situation was already embarrassing as it was, but it was like the small spots on his neck were burning, reminding him about the recklessness of the previous night.

“What are you thinking about? I really can’t read your expression,“ the older boy asked unconstrained, but careful.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung admitted.

“It honestly didn’t seem like this, because you didn’t push me away.”

Taehyung immediately felt like he was flushing, not sure if it was because of the way the stranger said it, or because of the another set of unexpected information he received.

“That was probably the last tequila,” Taehyung pointed out. “Do you usually kiss strangers like this?” he blurted out next.

The nameless raised an eyebrow at the sudden blunt question, but the amused look that was visible in his eyes hinted that he didn’t mind answering.

“No, not everyone.”

“Then why…?”

“Why did I kiss you? I don’t know that, probably an alcohol influenced attraction, spur of the moment,” he concluded and dug into his food again, not looking even the slightest bit embarrassed.

Taehyung mulled over his words for a while and couldn’t help wondering; was he also attracted to the boy with hazelnut hair and eyes a lot darker than his own?  

It happened because of the alcohol, his brain tried to convince him. But the never-ending burn on his neck didn’t seem to agree with that, the scattered pieces of memories of what happened still dancing in front of his eyes, a pair of chapped, but gentle lips on his own, the messy moves of his hands roaming all over his back.

Attraction. Could Taehyung be attracted to someone he didn’t remember meeting, didn’t remember kissing or touching, but felt his voice so familiar and calming that he decided he could be trusted?

“I will be going now,” the second boy spoke suddenly and stood up, pulling the said beanie over his ears as he walked to the front door. “Thanks for the food.”

“Which year are you? Are you older than me?” Taehyung asked suddenly, feeling that he had the right to know that at least.

“Me? I’m not a student here. Not here, not anywhere. I just happened to be at the same room you were.”

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows at the unforeseen answer, but he didn’t have time to properly ponder on the possible reasons why was the stranger in a dorm full of university students last night because he saw his front door wide open, the boy about to shut it back closed from the other side of it.

“You didn’t tell me your name.” Taehyung noted again, as if he was trying to hold him back from leaving, though he had no reason to do so.

The same brilliant smile reappeared on the other’s face, playful glint obvious in his eyes, as he said, “If we ever meet again, I promise to tell you.”

at·trac·tion

  [uh-trak-shuh]