TAEKOOK Under the NEW MOON [Taekook FF]

11 | Just Thinking the Same Thing

He was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Minghyu warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was. No wonder I was so eager to see him.

Even when he commented on the gaping hole in my dashboard, it didn't send me into a panic like it should have.

"Did the stereo break?" he wondered.

"Yeah," I lied.

He poked around in the cavity. "Who took it out? There's a lot of damage..."

"I did," I admitted.

He laughed. "Maybe you shouldn't touch the motorcycles too much."

"No problem."

According to Minghyu, we did get lucky at the dump. He was very excited about several grease-blackened pieces of twisted metal that he found; I was just impressed that he could tell what they were supposed to be.

From there we went to the Checker Auto Parts down in Hoquiam. In my truck, it was more than a two hour drive south on the winding freeway, but the time passed easily with Minghyu. He chattered about his friends and his school, and I found myself asking questions, not even pretending, truly curious to hear what he had to say.

"I'm doing all the talking," he complained after a long story about Soobin and the trouble he'd stirred up by asking out a senior's steady girlfriend. "Why don't you take a turn? What's going on in Forks? It has to be more exciting than La Push."

"Wrong," I sighed. "There's really nothing. Your friends are a lot more interesting than mine. I like your friends. Soobin's funny."

He frowned. "I think Soobin likes you, too."

I laughed. "He's a little young for me."

Minghyu's frown deepened. "He's not that much younger than you. It's just a year and a few months."

I had a feeling we weren't talking about Soobin anymore. I kept my voice light, teasing. "Sure, but, considering the difference in maturity between us, don't you have to count that in dog years? What does that make me, about twelve years older?"

I had always been told I was mature for my age. At this moment, I wasn't flexing but just simply owning up to it.

He laughed, rolling his eyes. "Okay, but if you're going to get picky like that, you have to average in size, too. You're shorter, I'll have to knock ten years off your total."

"Five foot ten is perfectly average." I sniffed. "It's not my fault you and your friends are freaks."