Ignorance is a bliss/Tyunning

A Few Pennys

Once the guys are done, Kai lays on the ground and slowly puts down the hands protecting his face.

"You want money Archie?" He asks and a his colorful laugh follows, but it's deeper than usual. Not as bright.

He fishes the few coins and the single small bill he had earned playing the park that day from the pucket of Taehyun's jeans, and throws them on the ground.

The coins make light clinking sound on the pavement until they finally settle next to Archie's legs.

"That's all I have, knock yourself out"

Archie huffs as if to show that he does not buy whatever act Kai's selling. And to be fair, Kai being the known bullshitter around the streets is not helping his situation right now.

The older guy kicks the few coins back at Kai and a few hit his face along with some of the dirt on Archie's shoes. He winces slightly, but is too tired to wipe the dirt off.

"Don't get too comfortable Kai, we'll come visit once the trial starts" Archie says, and with that, they leave Kai on the ground, bruised and alone.

...............

"Still worried?" Soobin asks tentatively, his eyes mostly focused on the stressed bartender who had managed to ruin the simple drink of wodka and cotton candy.

"Maybe you don't get it, Binnie. Because you don't know Taehyun as long as I have..."

Soobin looks up at the older from the bar's seat and waits for the continuation while Yeonjun slams the glass a bit too hard on the counter and Soobin flinches away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scared you. It's just, Taehyun's not the type of person to show up crying to a bar. Let alone one I work in...."

"Is he not fond of Hyung?...." Soobin asks and the innocence in his eyes is honestly too much for Yeonjun to take right now.

"No, no... me and Taehyun are in good terms. He is just not the type of person to search for comfort or when he feels down. It's actually pretty funny because I have another friend that doesn't really know how to ask for help either. They're both pretty dumb, you could say..."

Soobin nods along as if he understands everything, both passing the boring shifts by casually talking about nothing in particular.

Which led to Yeonjun experimenting on different kinds of alcohol and Soobin sitting in front of him playing with his non alcoholic drink and the funny yoo-hoo straw stuck in it.

"Is that the one that dropped by a few days ago?" Soobin asks and Yeonjun assumes he's talking about Kai.

"Yeah that's him"

"He's weird....." Soobin blurts out without any filter which causes Yeonjun to burst in a small wheez before containing his laughter.

"He is a bit weird, isn't he?"

"He's a good person... Kai, I mean" Yeonjun says and the sentence lingers in the air. "It's just a little hard to tell what he's thinking sometimes"

...........

"Woah..." Kai gasps as soon as he gets up, because the dizziness hitting him is stronger than he remembers.

He stumbled to the side before stabilizing himself on his two shaky feet and starts walking to nowhere. Maybe a small bench to pass the night on.

A few hours passes when he finally finds a decent place to crash in. A bench near the Han River. It's been a while since he slept there.... maybe it's a good thing he's there now, because the view is breathtaking.

He settles down on the slightly damn grass, head turned to the big source of water on his right, fascinating by the bridge lights reflecting on the water. It's almost pretty enough to help him forget about the pain.

It's a bit chilly, on the side of the river, exposed to the night's wind. His hands immediately go to wrap around his body and he rubs them for some heat.

Maybe he should've found a warmer spot, but the view is hard to compete with.... and for some reason, he always comes here after events like those. Where he's forced to take pain that isn't his.

He takes it with grace, and a bit of pride of course. But it's unnecessary to say he least.

If he had money, if he was anything they said he was. He would've already given then what they want.

Sometime he wonders to himself, why they target him, when he's the last person to have what they need.

But the answer is quite clear even if Kai doesn't want to see it. His past, his family.... even if he chooses to live separately from them, it doesn't stop people from making that connection.

Kai's eyes slowly drapes, and in that moment between sleep and awareness. Taehyun pops up, with his big eyes and slumped shoulders.

He's an amusing character, Kai thinks.

Funny too.

Pretty.

Very pretty.

Someone he wonders about, even when it scares him.

He shouldn't get too close to Taehyun, considering the circumstances.

But even then, he can't help but wondering, what if...

............

When Taehyun gets home, his mind is about 99% Kai and 1% whatever the hell made him upset before he left the house.

But as soon as he opens the door. It's as if the panic was just waiting to flood him again because all he feels is restlessness.

The first thing he does is check his phone, that had a few shatters on the screen from the way Taehyun slammed it on the floor earlier in the day.

But that's not what causes Taehyun to freeze in his place.

Not even the anxiety could do what he was feeling right at the moment, when he truly believed, he has gone mad.

No new messages

The last message from his mom, appearing on his messages app, is from a week ago.

Taehyun opens the app again, and the messages are the same.

He turns the phone on and off. Even logs with his laptop instead of his iPhone.

It's the same.

His parents never texted him those messages today.

The only new messages he had. Was from Mr. Kim.

Attorney Kim: bring your A game tomorrow, I need you focused.

The phone drops to the floor for the second time today, (not before Taehyun's finger slips and presses the red bottun). and this time, it's due to Taehyun's hands shaking uncontrollably.

But the number's already dialing.

"Son..?... son?" The voice in heart through the speaker and Taehyun crashes down.

"D-dad? Did you- did you maybe come by here today?" Taehyun asks, and he hopes for a positive answer.

"No... why? Is anything wrong? Do you need anything?"

"No..." Taehyun says and his voice is near breaking "bye D-dad... Goodnight"