skatin' ~~ taegyu [ON HOLD]

3: occupied mind

this chapter is written from taehyun's pov. (taking place after the first chapter)

taehyun's thoughts revolved around the boy from the ice skating rink for the next week. the boy had long dark black hair with white highlights, his visuals were stunning, and he seemed absolutely perfect... besides the fact that he couldn't skate.

the first day of school after winter break held many surprises for taehyun. there was an extremely popular boy who held the name of kim taehyung who had arrived at the school. his younger brother had also arrived, but no one paid much attention to the younger boy.

taehyun was sitting in his first period class. when he looked up from his phone, the boy from the ice skating rink was standing at the front of the room, playing with his hands. taehyun admired the boy. the boy who looked so good in the school uniform. the boy who looked kind. the boy who looked like a model.

"hi, my name is choi beomgyu. i recently moved here from the united states, and that's it." beomgyu smiled at the class, which made taehyun's heart stop. beomgyu's smile represented perfection.

when beomgyu walked past taehyun's desk, they made direct eye contact. taehyun's heart raced and his hands shook. he didn't know what was wrong with him.

i shouldn't be feeling like this... liking boys is wrong, taehyun thought, shaking his head. he tried his best to remove beomgyu from his thoughts, but it seemed impossible. taehyun's parents would be extremely against this, and his reputation at school would be ruined. taehyun directed his attention on the teacher who was lecturing, refusing to let beomgyu into his head.

at the end of class, beomgyu tapped his shoulder. he turned, meeting the beautiful eyes of the dark-haired boy. "hey, taehyun right? it's nice to see you again! i was wondering if-"

taehyun immediately knew he couldn't be friends with the boy. not if he was going to make taehyun feel like this. his parents would find a way to ruin his life if they knew taehyun felt like this.

"no, i don't want to be friends with you. i have enough friends already," taehyun told beomgyu, his voice cold. he watched as beomgyu flinched at his words.

taehyun met with yeonjun who was waiting at the door for him, then walked out. he casted a glance back at the boy whom he'd rejected. beomgyu was just standing, staring at his feet. guilt rushed through taehyun at the sight of the other. taehyun chose to ignore it and continued walking.

throughout taehyun's next class, his thoughts never left beomgyu. the sad expression he held when taehyun rejected him. guilt continued to haunt taehyun, and at lunch, he still found himself drowning in guilt.

taehyun was sitting at a table with some boys on his hockey team, when he looked across the cafeteria. he spotted beomgyu at a table with three other boys. beomgyu looked happy with his new friends. taehyun smiled whenever beomgyu smiled. he laughed silently whenever beomgyu laughed.

this was interrupted when a boy who he recognized as kim woojin stood in front of beomgyu. taehyun had heard about woojin being an asshole. woojin usually picked on the weaker people, feeding off of their sadness and pain.

taehyun's eyes narrowed as he tried to see beomgyu's reaction to woojin. beomgyu's facial expression never strayed from neutral. taehyun looked lower, seeing beomgyu's hands. they were clenched into fists, his knuckles white. taehyun was angered seeing this, wishing he could do something about the bully.

when woojin left, beomgyu's hands released from fists. unexpectedly, beomgyu looked up and met taehyun's gaze. taehyun quickly looked away, flushing slightly.

i can NOT be feeling this way.

here taehyun was, in his room, scrolling through tiktok. taehyun thought that the app was a waste of time, but it was a good distraction from beomgyu; who was in fact still haunting his thoughts.

taehyun was scrolling, until he found a video of someone in a mask and dark black shaggy hair which was held back in a ponytail. they were wearing a dark black outfit and rings. he raised his eyebrows, then scrolled through the comments. this person was gaining a lot of attention.

taehyun then tapped on the account and his eyes widened at the follower count.

holy shit, this person is famous.

taehyun read the bio of the account, his curiosity rising. the person's pronouns were listed. he/him, it read.

taehyun scrolled through the account, his interest piquing. each video was mostly centered around the same theme. many comments asked for the person to show his face, but everytime, he refused.

around thirty minutes had passed, and taehyun had watched all of the videos. he followed the account, then turned off his phone and started preparing for hockey practice.