The Longest Dayz

Chapter 29: Lee Taehyun

Taehyun stood by the exit door, Kittichai by his side. He couldn't quite fathom that they were about to exit the building for the first time since everything had begun. He stared blankly at the door, a range of emotions running amok inside of his mind.

"Do you want to open it or do you want me to do it?" Kitt asked, breaking Taehyun's train of thoughts.

"I can do it." He responded softly, not sounding very confident as he reached out to push the door open with trembling hands.

Kitt moved between the door and Taehyun, grabbing his hands mid air, stopping him from opening the door.

"Tae, you don't have to come if you're scared. There isn't anything wrong with not being ready; please don't force yourself just to prove a point." Kittichai spoke in a soft tone.

Taehyun looked down at the floor, becoming a bit shy from the contact. "I-I'm okay, I'm not scared."

"Hey, look at me, I'm serious." Taehyun only looked up when Kitt placed his hand gently under his chin, raising his face to look at him.

"As long as you're here with me..." Tae muttered as he gazed at Kittichai, completely beguiled by Kitt's attractive features.

"What do you mean by that?" Kittichai asked, withdrawing his hand as he rubbed the back of his neck, appearing a bit shy or awkward to Taehyun.

The reaction caused the artist to frown, retracting his hand from Kitt's grasp as he became embarrassed. He scratched his head as he tried to think of what to say. He was scared of Kittichai's reaction if he said the wrong thing. "Ah... I-I mean..."

"You mean?" Kittichai questioned, visibly taking a step closer to the artist.

Tae quickly took a step back as he tried to think of what to say.

"I-I mean..." He stuttered as he struggled to think properly.

Kittichai appeared to be enjoying his struggle because he took yet another step closer. "Mhm?"

"I mean... because you are a total badass!" He blurted, all his rational thoughts flying out the window.

"You think I am a... a badass?" Taehyun could see Kitt's smile falter as he asked.

The artist bit his lip, he wanted to run his head through a wall. Never in his life has he ever said something so foolish. It wasn't necessarily a lie, but that wasn't even remotely close to what he meant when he had said, "As long as you're here with me."

"I wouldn't say I am a badass, I think I was just raised to handle more stressful situations than most other people experience." Kitt stated, taking a step back from Taehyun. The artist watched as Kittichai turned towards the exit once again. He might've imagined it, but the slightly younger man seemed to be a bit disappointed with his response.

"I didn't mean to say-" Taehyun began, but was cut off by Yeongsu's voice as it came through the radio.

"Ya! Where are you two? The longer you wait the worse the situation could get."

Kitt responded, "we are going now, I was just making sure we have everything." He then turned to Taehyun. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am, because I trust you." He shot Kittichai his boxy smile, hoping to reassure the brunette that he was going to be alright.

Kitt stared at him for a moment too long, a slight red tint appearing to dust over his features, it was barely noticeable to Taehyun so he thought he was seeing things. When he squinted to try and get a better look at Kittichai's face, the brunette turned towards the door.