whenever it rains | nct

twenty-three

the whole way to the café, taeyong thought about how he'd like his funeral to go if he didn't survive this meeting.

he thinks he'd be okay with anyone aside from yuta giving a speech. even jaehyun would be a suitable alternative to give his eulogy.

he was still going over the details of what sort of flowers he'd appreciate being buried with when he'd reached the destination and caught sight of eun sitting in the same exact spot they'd sat before.

he swallowed, a newfound anxiety rising in his throat. he figured if he hesitated for too long, it'd make it worse. so like ripping a bandaid off, he marched up to the table as bravely as he could.

"oh," eun trailed, without looking up, "you're here."

taeyong blinked awkwardly.

"you can sit," the girl added, still not making eye contact as she took her laptop out.

the boy sank into the seat across from her, embarrassment turning his face pink. he was a bit relieved to see her treating him coldly for some reason, although it did sting. he'd rather this than a furious eun.

"you've brought your materials?," she asked, finally lifting her head to look at his face. and for a second, he almost thought he could see her features soften slightly.

"yeah," taeyong replied, scratching the back of his neck and she nodded.

they began to work in silence, each of them editing the slides at the same time. the silence eventually turned from awkward to a sort of comfortable. as comfortable as a silence between these two could get anyway.

when taeyong was nearly finished typing in the data in their last chart, he was startled by eun's voice suddenly speaking up.

"so," the girl began, eyes still locked on her computer, "was it fun?"

he stopped typing and looked up at her collected face, "was what fun?"

"toying with me." she replied matter of factly.

"whatever you're thinking, i promise i didn't deceive you to mess with your feelings or anything like that," taeyong insisted, "i would never."

"then why?"

"i don't know, you mentioned my name like immediately and before i knew it i enjoyed talking to you and i knew it would change if you knew who i was. but then, when i decided i had to tell you it was way too late and i-,"

"taeyong," she interrupted his rambling with a light laugh, her hand pressing against his arm softly. "i can tell you didn't have any bad intentions. it's fine, i'm not that upset about it anymore."

taeyong faltered at her touch, and he could feel his anxiety slightly dissipate upon hearing her laugh. "saying 'not that upset' implies you're still upset though."

"i mean you did reverse catfish me, surely you can't expect me to let it go that easily," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"reverse catfishing?"

"how else would you describe what you did, lee taeyong?" the girl asked, pulling her hand away to fold her arms.

"good point," he shrugged, sitting back in his seat, "now that we're good, can we discuss you having a crush on me in high school?"

"how about we not do that? like ever, please."