Secrets // Taegyu + Yeonbin FF // TXT FF

Chapter 6: Photo

3rd person's POV:

It was getting late and the two oldest finally finished the work for tomorrow.

"Done!"

"Finally!"

Soobin started collecting his stuff and Yeonjun noticed how the younger's expression dulled.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked worried, making Soobin snap out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah, sorry, just was lost in thoughts."

"Your face changed..."

"No, no, I'm good," Soobin said, smiling. He didn't want to go home.

Yeonjun didn't want Soobin to leave either. He enjoyed Soobin's company and he could see that the younger didn't want to leave either.

'Why is he lying...?' he thought.

"Do you want to stay the night?" the older offered, taking Soobin aback.

"Huh? But--"

"You won't be a burden."

'Please stay.'

Yeonjun really wanted Soobin to stay. There was something that kept Yeonjun interested and curious about the boy.

"If you insist..." Soobin agreed, getting shy. "But where am I going to sleep?"

It was silent for a moment as Yeonjun pretended to think.

"We can share my bed." the older smirked watching the taller's reaction.

"U-uh-- I-- Wh--" Soobin stuttered flustered, he felt himself burning up as Yeonjun just burst into laughter.

"I'm kidding, kidding. We have an extra room, you can sleep there."

"Hyung, you're so-!" Soobin playfully hit Yeonjun.

"What~? Finish the sentence, Soobin-ah~~" Yeonjun continued talking and teasing Soobin with his flirty voice, receiving a smack in an answer. "Ow-! Alright, alright, I'll let my mom know you're staying."

Yeonjun left the room and Soobin was still there. His ears were still fighting red as he gently slapped his cheeks to return to his senses.

"Tch. He's such a tease."

+×+

Taehyun returned with two bottles of water and gave one to Beomgyu who was standing by the shelves with a couple of framed photos and sports awards.

"Thanks." he thanked.

"No problem." he smiled.

'He-! He smiled at me?!' the older thought surprised.

The two got to talk before because Beomgyu just couldn't keep quiet.

One picture kept getting Beomgyu's attention.

"Hey, Taehyun, who's that?" he asked as he pointed at the picture. It looked like a selfie of Taehyun and another boy who seemed to be the same age as him.

Taehyun looked at the picture and a nostalgic smile spread across his face.

"No one," he said placing the picture face down, returning to sit back on the floor.

Beomgyu had never seen Taehyun talk to anybody else except for Soobin. Whoever was on that picture must've meant a lot to Taehyun since Beomgyu noticed how the younger's face changed.

"I'm sorry. You must've been close..."

"It's nothing. We're in the past." Taehyun answered.

"Whatever happened-"

"Can we drop the topic?!" the younger boy interrupted and it became silent once again. At least music was playing--

Taehyun dropped his pencil in frustration and sighed.

"He's an old friend of mine." he started, gathering Beomgyu's attention. "We were really close in my old school. After I left, we stopped talking, and I just down have the courage to text him or call him." he paused. "But I mean... if he hasn't texted me for a year, maybe it doesn't even matter. Who knows, maybe he forgot about me."

Beomgyu decided not to ask anything else. He wanted to know more about Taehyun but decided to not push on this topic. If Taehyun shared a bit, he doesn't need to know more than he does at the moment.

"Don't say that. You're unforgettable." Beomgyu blushed at the realization of what he just said. From the corner of his eye, he saw blush cover Taehyun's face too.

"T-thanks...?"

"I mean--" Beomgyu wanted to quickly come up with something, but a sound of a door opening saved him and prevented him from doing so.

"You guys are working on this project all day long. You skipped dinner. Go and eat something and let your brain rest." Taehyun's mom said.

"That's a good idea," Taehyun answered, standing up from the floor, avoiding any further conversation.

+×+

"Oh wow, I haven't realized how late it was, I'm so sorry!" Beomgyu panicked when he looked out of the window and checked the time on his phone.

"Oh no, don't worry, it's fine." the lady tried reassuring Beomgyu.

"Thank you, but really, I should be home by now." the black-haired boy laughed awkwardly.

"Taehyun, tell him it's fine, help me out here." Taehyun's mom whispered into her son's ear.

"He says, he needs to go, so why hold him back?"

The lady facepalmed.

"Alright then, I'll drive you home." the man who was sitting at the table suggested.

"Thank you, Mr. Kang." Beomgyu bowed.

"Oh please, drop the honorifics."

The boy chuckled and then turned to Taehyun.

"So, tomorrow?

"Sure." the younger shrugged.

As Beomgyu was leaving, he smiled to himself, since today, he finally got Taehyun to talk to him.

"He seems nice. I didn't know you've made a new friend." the older lady smiled as Taehyun still had the frown of annoyance on his face.

"We just have to work on a project. We didn't have our partners, so we got paired up instead. Once this is all over, 'we' will be over too."

"Taehyun-ah. Beomgyu seems like a nice guy. You seemed to enjoy his company too," the older woman pointed out. "At some point," she corrected herself.

"Well, a LOT of people SEEM reliable!" Taehyun chuckled in disbelief. "How do I know if he is reliable?! He's one of the popular kids! You know how that ended up! I'm not going down that path again, mom! Not this time!" Taehyun kept yelling and raising his voice as his mom could only give him an apologetic look.

She had a lot to add and reassure him, but she decided it was not the time yet.

She saw her son leaving the kitchen and walking towards the front door.

"I'm going for a swim."