At The End Of The World Together Forever // TOMORROW X TOGETHER [BeomJun]

Chapter Seventeen - Kisses and Goodbyes

The cars drove past them with limited speed. The sun was shining on their heads, but the air was cold enough to not to create the uncomfortable feeling of overheating on such a typical summer day. Beomgyu and Yeonjun stood on the other side of the street while Soobin stood in front of Taehyun and looked down on him, thinking about how best to say goodbye.

Around them surrounded large buildings, on the other side of the road was a small drug store and a little cafe. The streets were still a bit wet from the rain that occurred a few hours ago. Soobin's hand tickled from the mere urge to touch Taehyun's hand. Little movements from his fingers showed that the longer he stood there in silence, the less he could resist that urge. He didn't want him to go.

"You will be good without me, right?" Taehyun asked him while looking into Soobin's eyes with a calm expression.

"ye- yes." Soobin cleared his throat and began talking louder. The silence was so long that he forgot how to speak in proper volume.

Taehyun looked down on Soobin's hand and saw it being clenched into a fist. He reached out to his hand and wrapped his fingers around it before looking up into Soobin's face again. His eyes were wide open but a sense of ease filled his gaze as the oppressive urge vanished from his mind and calmed him down.

Soobin didn't know how to word his sentences. He didn't know what to say to Taehyun and it drove him insane with every passing second. The only thing that let him feel as if it wasn't a big deal was the small hand that clutched itself around his own.

"Guess I will be alone in the backseat again." Soobin chuckled and brought out a small smile from Taehyun. Soobin stopped laughing and looked down to their intertwined hands while scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Um... We will see each other then. I hope. Some time. I guess." The awkwardness grew around him with every word he spoke. Taehyun had his eyes fixed on Soobin, watching him as he failed to properly speak out his mind.

Taehyun sighed audibly, his eyes melting into a soft gaze, before he put his free hand on Soobin's cheek and kissed him on the lips with a gentle pressure. Soobin backed away a little from the sudden action but quickly pushed himself into the kiss afterwards. He wrapped his hands around Taehyun's waist and kissed him again with more passion.

Taehyun detached himself from Soobin's lips but lingered near his face for a few seconds more before bringing his heels down to the ground again. He pressed his lips to a thin line, licking them with his tongue while looking down to his feet with red cheeks.

"I-" Soobin stuttered with a shaky voice.

"I thought you didn't like me that way." Taehyun chuckled and raised his head up.

"Wasn't the constant hand holding not obvious enough?"

"Well- I need words for that." Soobin said, his eyes looking into the distance as he was too embarrassed of the obvious not being obvious enough for him.

"Okay." Taehyun spoke.

"I like you."

The corner of Soobin's lips twitched up in excitement. His body heated up in seconds and his cheeks burned while his chest tickled from all the excited feelings he had inside of him. Thinking of all the times he had looked at Taehyun in secret, not even knowing his own feelings, but now knowing more about Taehyun and himself than before, made this whole road trip more amazing than Soobin ever thought.

"I... like you too." He smiled at him in delight. Taehyun smiled back at him and got on his tiptoes again to kiss him one more time, now with a better understanding of both of their feelings for each other. The kiss felt more pure and intimate as the words chimed through their heads.

I like you. I like you. I like you.

Their kiss got interrupted by an obtrusive coughing coming from behind Soobin. Taehyun opened his eyes, revealing a calm expression on his face, and looked first at Soobin, who was still perplexed from the sudden normalization of them kissing, and then over to Kai, who was bouncing impatiently from one foot to the other.

"I'm not gonna kiss you." Taehyun stated, at which Kai raised his hands up in defense and stared at them with an innocent gaze.

"Just wanna inform you two that there are people who don't want to see that."

"Then turn around." Kai lowered his hands in defeat and changed his expression from innocence to bewilderment.

Taehyun turned his attention back to Soobin and continued looking at him with adoration. It got quiet and Taehyun used the silence to observe Soobin's every admirable feature.

His cheeks were blushing red, redder than usual. Taehyun noticed that Soobin's cheeks were only this shade of red when he looked at Taehyun.

His lips were a fading shade of pink. Taehyun discovered that Soobin's lips were smooth, and touching them revealed that they were not only soft to kiss but were also the ignition of a burst of unknown bliss that spread through his chest and whole body. Watching his lips form into a toothy smile gave Taehyun so much joy that he had to look away everytime.

His eyes were the doors to Soobin's mind and thoughts. He was so easy to see through that Taehyun didn't have to wonder what he was thinking as he always knew it right away. It was obvious when he felt uncomfortable and clear when he felt calm and happy without showing it visibly. The first time he saw him, Taehyun knew that Soobin felt something for him other than comfort in having a friend. His obvious crush mesmerized him.

Taehyun released his gaze from Soobin and collected his thoughts while looking into the distance. Soobin watched as Taehyun took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and pressed it insistently against Soobin's chest.

Soobin looked down to the piece of paper being pushed against his chest and the small hand bringing up the strength to hold the paper in its place.

"My phone number." Soobin looked up at Taehyun who simultaneously looked up at Soobin.

"Don't lose it."

"I won't." He took the paper from his hand and looked at it for a few seconds before putting it into his pocket.

"Can we go now? I need to pee and I don't want to go behind a bush again." Taehyun rolled his eyes as Kai walked up to him and turned around to face Soobin.

"See you later, Alligator." He said and waved goodbye. Taehyun furrowed his brows in cringe, Soobin doing the same with more confusion in his look. Kai laughed at their reaction with loud amusement.

"Bye." Soobin spoke and raised his hand a little to wave at him goodbye. He couldn't drop off the unknown, strange feeling when he looked at Kai. Something that Soobin should speak out or do that would fix the grotesque sentiment.

Soobin smiled weakly at the two boys in front of him and displaced the unspoken far away into his mind where it wouldn't cause any trouble. He turned his gaze to the street, waiting for the cars to drive past before he ran across the road towards Beomgyu and Yeonjun, who smiled at each other, probably talking about unimportant stuff.

Beomgyu and Yeonjun turned their attention to the tall boy in front of them and grinned at him with a teasing smile.

"Don't worry, you will see your little boyfriend soon again." Yeonjun said with a teasing voice and hit Soobin against the shoulder in an assuring gesture. Embarrassment creeped up on Soobin's face as he held the shoulder Yeonjun just hit.

"At least you've got to stay with Beomgyu."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Get in the car." Yeonjun commanded and placed a hand on Soobin's back, pushing him towards the car door in which he entered the car after looking back to the other side of the street.

Taehyun still stared at him, a slightly sad expression marking his face while toying with his fingers, not seeing Kai's face fixed at Soobin as well while his gaze showed the same unspoken feeling that lurked inside of Soobin's mind and chest.