Infatuation - haobin

-12-

♪"Telephones" by Vacations ♪

Hao chuckles as he mixes Hanbin's coffee for him while the boy is complaining about his math teacher, rambling on incoherently, but Hao doesn't mind it. He would rather that than silence; a welcoming for his mind to overthink.

"Why don't you just switch classes? You can always change math levels" Hao reasons, but Hanbin shakes his head, saying something about how he's in the right level before giving Hao his coffee cup. The older boy takes it into his hands, placing both of his palms around the cup to feel the warmth emanating from it in this cold weather. 

Luckily, they are currently in a nice and warm café that stands close to the school, so they don't need to worry too much about the snow that is currently drizzling outside the comfortable café.

Hao takes a sip of his coffee, feeling the warm liquid pass his throat, warming his insides in the way. He sighs in contentment before setting the coffee cup down, watching as Hanbin leans down in front of his notebook, mumbling numbers and letters under his breath as he does his math homework. Hao smiles a bit, seeing the clear frustrated frown on Hanbin's face, writing with a sharpened pencil that nearly leaves holes in the paper

"write any more harshly and you won't have a notebook anymore," Hao says, taking Hanbin's pencil away from him. The boy groans, putting his hands messily on his hair

"I hate school" Hao laughs at that, shaking his head before looking outside, watching the snow fall calmly "Who doesn't"

Hanbin just hums, putting his head on the dark wood table, and closing his eyes, though not sleeping. He calmly listens to the small tittering of the icy snow against the thin windows of the café, while Hao frets in between watching people with big coats and large scarfs run around in the exterior or reading a book that has been sitting in front of him for more than half an hour, and not have been opened yet. So he does both, opening the book, and placing it on his lap, before looking outside again

Hao always liked winter, only the magic of it changes through age. When he was a little boy, he liked it for the snow. He likes the color of it, the blinding enduringness of it, and the way it would fall softly on the ground without a sound; an enigma to the young boy. Then, around the age of eight, he liked it for Christmas only. He would wait days and days, counting them down bit by bit, to the day when he would wake up on Christmas Eve, have a delicious dinner, and open presents. At the age of fourteen, the boy only liked it for the Christmas presents. He dreamed of certain things he wanted. He would fall asleep on the cozy bed, closing his eyes, and dreaming what it would be like if his parents would give him certain things that he really wanted. And just last year, maybe the presents stopped mattering much to him. He had woken up on Christmas Eve, just to not be as excited as before. He enjoyed the dinner more than anything that day, standing right by his mom, and sitting in front of his dad.

And now, this year, Hao likes it for its beauty, much like when he was a little boy. He likes the feel of it; the feeling of waking up on a cool morning, putting on comfortable winter clothes, having scarves wrapped around his neck comfortingly, and walking to school with the snow crunching below him. He likes drinking warm coffee, smelling the scents of wet streets, smelling cinnamon within his house, and overall feeling the joyous spirit. 

Hao looks down at his book, chiding himself to read it. But he doesn't want to. He wants to embrace the joyous spirit... a rare moment where he feels a spark of happiness amidst his misery. The misery from his long, complicated, stupid-

"So... how's it going with Jun?" Hanbin asks, looking up, his chin leaning on his folded arms that lean on the table of the café. Hao shrugs, taking this as an excuse to close his book, and puts it away. He gets comfortable on the booth seat before speaking "I haven't talked to him in a week. I'm avoiding him as best as I can" Hao says honestly, his voice hinting at sadness, yet a small part of himself is proud. This is what he knows is right, what he knows is healthier.

Hanbin smiles softly at that, swaying his wired headphones from one side to another, getting them all tangled accidentally.

"That's good... I've kind of noticed," Hanbin halts, finally looking up at Hao, a sparkle in his eyes, mixed with confusion "But why?"

Hao shrugs again, taking a sip of his coffee. He doesn't understand Hanbin... he doesn't get him at all. Why is Hanbin always so interested in what goes between him and Jun? Why does he support him, but he seems so happy once he knows that Hao and Jun aren't talking anymore? Hao sighs, shrugging off his overthinking, "He isn't worth fighting for. I nearly lost my friends because of him... and it's not worth all that"

Hanbin nods as he listens to Hao's explanation, putting his coat to the side before mimicking Hao's sitting position "And are you... happy?"

Hao thinks for a while, looking down at the table as he thinks of a response, before he looks back up at Hanbin, meeting his eyes.

"More than I've been for the past few months," he says with a smile. Hanbin smiles back at that before nodding

"That's... that's good. I'm happy for you," he says genuinely "I always thought you deserve better"

Hao snorts, taking one last sip of his coffee before shaking his head with an amused smile "Better? Who's better... you?" he jokes. Only after he processes what he said in his head, does he feel his face heat up a little before shaking his head, not seeing the way Hanbin's face heats up a little, turning a light shade of red "I'm joking, I'm joking"

Hanbin nods slightly before looking away, eyes wandering everywhere except to Hao "Right... funny"

Before Hao can catch up on any sarcasm, he looks up at the call of his name, eyes locking with a very familiar-looking guy. The boy walks up to them, smiling, and immediately sits down next to Hao with a large grin on his face

"What're you doing here, Ricky?" Hao groans, though everyone could see a hint of a smile on his lips

"On a date with Gyuvin. He's ordering out drinks right now" Ricky answers, before he notices that Hanbin is there. Hao watches as Ricky's grin turns even wider "Looks like I'm not the only one on a date..."

Hao scoffs, pushing Ricky "Never! Stop smiling so much like a psychopath, your face is gonna hurt"

Ricky shrugs, still smiling. Gyuvin appears just a few seconds after, sitting down next to Hanbin. He also grins once he sees Hao and Hanbin hanging out together, but Hao just shakes his head

"What's up with you guys and your creepy grins?" he asks, taking a sip of Ricky's drink

"I call a double date" Gyuvin replies with a shrug. Hanbin coughs while Hao just laughs it off

"Oh, as if" he replies sarcastically before changing the topic of conversation "what're you guys going to do after this?"

Ricky thinks for a little before shrugging "We don't really have plans. I kinda wanna go skating on the lake near Hanbin's house" he says, and Gyuvin nods, approving the idea 

"You guys should come along. it'll be fun" Gyuvin says

Hao hesitates, looking at Hanbin who nods, clearly approving of the idea "Sure... won't that interrupt your date though?"

Ricky laughs, shaking his head "Of course not"

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I'm back!!!

enjoy the next few chapters because after that it's going to be a bit of a rollercoaster 😋

I hope you enjoyed! ♡

(stream 'Starry Night' bye Fifty Fifty)