Secrets - [TAEBIN FF]

Chapter 48

A/N: I apologize beforehand for how boring and lackluster this chapter might be, but I contracted Covid and I have little to no energy to write a lot. Hope you understand I'll try to edit maybe another time where I have energy 🤍

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🎶: 'I Blame On You' by Taeyeon

Kai turned out to be a lot more enthusiastic about becoming friends than Taehyun had expected.

Directly on that day, when they exchanged numbers, he asked him to hang out at his house on the weekend, to which Taehyun replied with yes after clarifying with his mother.

When Saturday rolled around, Taehyun made his way towards Kai's house, thankfully finding it after getting lost because of the street signs.

The two ate Mrs Huening's freshly baked cookies in the snow and chatted and shared more about themselves.

Kai was such a chatterbox that he barely chewed on his cookies. He talked about his family first: he has two sisters, Lea who was older and Bahiyyih who was younger.

When he first saw the two girls, Taehyun nearly mistook them for twins.

In fact, all three siblings looked so similar to each other that unless he didn't know the context, Taehyun would've said they were triplets.

Kai was still 17 years old, as he was born on August 14th the same year as Taehyun, so he was younger than him. Being called 'Hyung' felt so weird for Taehyun; most of the time he called his friends 'Hyung', and not the other way around.

Kai also revealed he was 183 cm, and his dad was around 190 cm even. He also apparently loves singing, and plays many instruments.

And he did not hesitate to show Taehyun his collection of 37 plushies.

Taehyun grew very fond of the tall boy who resembled a cuddly penguin. Which wasn't a lie; Kai loved giving hugs and physical touches of affection. They hugged at least five times every time they hung out, which became more frequent as time went by.

Plus, he had to admit: Kai gave amazingly great hugs, always constantly enveloping the person he hugged into the warmest and caring embrace you can think of.

Taehyun also revealed about his life, about his family, his sisters (Kai had the same opinion about them and their visuals as Taehyun towards him and his sisters), his hobbies in which he told Kai he also loves to sing.

But he didn't mention anything about Soobin.

Not a single word.

He wasn't ready yet to share a beautiful yet painful part of his soul.

Kai was also very patient and understanding of why Taehyun has been having difficulty getting used to the United States. From what Taehyun told him, Korea and America are two different planets.

Taehyun was really thankful that Kai told him he can take as much time as needed in order to feel comfortable in America.

Because in the sea of everyone asking him if he's already adjusted to his new surroundings, one person acting as a lighthouse was enough to slowly... help him.

He first revealed more about the bullies to Kai towards the end of April. By that time, Taehyun knew Kai was trustworthy and a true friend to him.

"Hyung, you should not let them push you around," Kai stated firmly after Taehyun finished explaining.

"I know."

Taehyun sighed, kicking his feet across the gravel.

"It's not as bad as before."