“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, TaekWoon! Do it with me!”

“No.”

“SeJung-noona did it with SangBo!”

“I don’t care.”

HakYeon pouted, crossing his arms in a huff. Across the table, TaekWoon took a lazy sip of his coffee.

“That gross face won’t change my mind, either.”

That afternoon found the two at a different coffee shop suggested by TaekWoon. The brew’s taste was a bit stronger, and the shop’s interior was a bit louder in design. HakYeon kept flitting his eyes back and forth from one detail to another. He did this in part to avoid TaekWoon’s unwavering glare.

“Um… Why are you staring at me like that?” he asked nervously.

TaekWoon didn’t answer but stared pointedly, expectantly, at HakYeon.

It worked. HakYeon finally broke. “Um… I’m going to assume SeJung-noona already told you what happened.”

“She did,” he replied. TaekWoon’s face and voice portrayed no emotion.

HakYeon toyed with his cup, his fingers fumbling with the sleeve. “I’m sorry… Um… You’re not gonna… ask why I never said anything?”

“I figured you had some reason for not telling me, so I didn’t pry. If that’s what you wanted, then it doesn’t matter to me.”

“A-ah, I see…” He didn’t, actually.

“But she said you got stitches?” Curious eyes flitted to the top of HakYeon’s head.

“Ah! Yeah. I get them out next weekend, though.”

“Mm.”

They lapsed to silence. HakYeon still felt a bit on edge, wondering if TaekWoon was feeling one way or another about HakYeon not telling him about his episode. Really, SeJung would’ve had more of the story to share, anyway, since HakYeon was knocked out for the beginning of it.

“A what?!” HakYeon had almost screeched.

SeJung had nodded vigorously. “I went to the studio yesterday. It was almost like a murder scene. They hadn’t properly cleaned up your blood from the floor.”

“Are you sure the whole bookcase fell on me? Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”

“It’s gone, HakYeon, I swear! That’s what JiYoungie told me, too, and she was there when it happened! She said first you backed into the shelf, that big bust of Kang HoDong toppled over and crashed on your head, and then the whole thing came down!”

“Wouldn’t I be dead?!”

“Apparently, HoBong and SeYun stopped the actual bookcase from falling on you, but you know how that thing had all the stuff on every shelf. Yeah, you were dogpiled. And you bled out on everything, too.”

Really, if their roles were switched, HakYeon would definitely be much more probing about the whole matter. But across the table, TaekWoon just nonchalantly lifted his cup to his lips to take a lazy drag of his coffee. HakYeon vaguely wondered just how much money TaekWoon spent on coffee each week.

His eyes wandered back to the various canvases and quotes splayed about the wall. There were quite a few pictures that caught his eye, very much in his style. But his eyes latched on to one in particular, a dialogue from a story, maybe.

“What’s the difference?” I asked him. “Between the love of your life, and your soul mate?”

“One is a choice, and one is not.” **

He read the words again. And again. His coffee was bitter.

“Hey, um!”

A young voice broke the spell, and HakYeon’s attention was brought back to the table. Rather, the edge of the table. The voice belonged to a very young girl – maybe four years old. She was gripping the edge with her small hands and staring brightly at the two men who sat there.

“So! My momma told me, um…” Much like a child, she enunciated each syllable very slowly and carefully. “One day I’m gonna meet my soul mate, and something magical is gonna happen, so um, will you be my soul mate?”

HakYeon was quite tickled, and he chanced a glance at TaekWoon to see if the rock tumbler could possibly be curved by the innocent antics of the girl, but what he saw made him freeze.

TaekWoon’s face had spread to a wide, bright smile – a legitimate smile, one that pushed up the corners of his eyes – as he leaned forward to look at the young girl at eye level. He reached out to ruffle her hair. “You already want to find your soul mate?” Even his voice sounded much brighter. “But you’re still very young, aren’t you?”

“No!” the girl persisted. “I wanna see the magic! I wanna see it now!”

TaekWoon laughed. He laughed. “The magic will find you, though. It’s better to just grow up normally.”

“Noooooooooooooo…”

The door to the café chimed. “HyunJoo? HyunJoo!”

A lady whisked her way over to HakYeon and TaekWoon’s table, reaching out to the girl. “I’m sorry. I lost her for just a bit. She wasn’t bothering you two, was she?”

“No, it’s fine,” HakYeon quickly asserted. “She’s very cute.” He saw TaekWoon nodding in the corner of his eye.

“Come on, HyunJoo. We shouldn’t bother these two. Say bye-bye!”

The girl was pouting, but she still lifted a small hand and waved as the two turned to leave and continue about their day. HakYeon returned to face TaekWoon, but across the table, TaekWoon was still smiling wistfully after the young girl.

“Do you like kids?” HakYeon asked brightly.

At the sound of HakYeon’s voice, the rock tumbler face swiftly returned, mask secure once again. “I do.”

“Wah, I was surprised. I’ve never seen that kind of face on you before!”

TaekWoon sat back in his chair. “To be honest, I wanted kids before.”

“Oh, really?” HakYeon nodded. That made sense. “… ‘Wanted’? What happened?”

TaekWoon’s glare snapped up to meet HakYeon’s eyes, but he said nothing further, choosing instead to drag from his cup again. “In any case, I’m not doing that useless class with you.”

The reminder of their previous conversation made HakYeon pout again. “Come on, TaekWoon-ah! Do it with me!”

“No.”

“Meanie.”

“Remind yourself how long this class is.”

“It’s only one week long!”

“Remind yourself what my occupation is.”

“You’re… Ah.”

“I work more than full time. I don’t have the time to lolly-gag in some art class exclusively for Polys that teaches the colors which I have no interest in.”

“… Meanie.”

They fell to silence again. HakYeon’s cup was empty; he didn’t have anything to distract his hands anymore. His eyes started to wander again, deliberately skipping over the quote he saw before.

“Before you moved back up here,” HakYeon started, “where were you assigned?”

“Gyeongsangdo.”

“Oh, really?! North or south?”

“South.”

“Really?! I’m from Changwon!”

“Mm.”

It seemed like TaekWoon’s cup was empty, too. He had stopped taking sips, too.

“Did you have a girlfriend there?”

HakYeon didn’t even know where that question had surfaced from before it was echoing in his ears. The reverb ebbed coldly through his veins. He kept his gaze away from TaekWoon’s, slowly passing over the pictures on the wall behind him. TaekWoon, however, was carefully watching HakYeon.

“I did.”

Did. “… What happened?”

“I moved.”

Maybe the caffeine was getting to him. HakYeon’s stomach didn’t seem to be taking in the coffee very well. His thoughts were interrupted as TaekWoon pushed back his chair and stood.

“I’m hungry,” he said simply.

HakYeon stared up at him. “Eh?! After drinking this?”

“It’s coffee. It’s not food.”

He said it like HakYeon was probably the dumbest person he’d ever met. HakYeon didn’t even know how to reply. Maybe he was the dumbest person as it took a few seconds for HakYeon to realize TaekWoon was still standing in the same spot, staring down at him.

“Eh? What?”

“I’m hungry,” TaekWoon repeated. “Let’s go eat.”

Arrhythmia. “A-ah. Okay.”

**from Tarryn Fisher's Mud Vein - Don't ask me about it, though. I didn't read it. I just saw the quote on Instagram lol.

A/N: Y'ALL!!!!!!! ERROR, THOUGH!!!!!!!!! /SCREEEEEEEEECH-- AND THEN THEIR CONCERTS IN NY AND IN!!!!!!!!! /I HAVE NO MONEYYYYYYYYYYY

I've been sitting here stalking the internet, waiting for the NY tickets to appear, but like what .-. where are they

Anyway, I'm gonna be on vacation next week, so I may or may not update :[] Sorry in advance. But why read this fic when you can watch VIXX'S NEW MV OMASOGKJAFOIGJAOSIDRJEWSJDKF /STOKEDDDD