UNSPOKEN LOVE | GYURAE (GYUVIN & TAERAE)

04.

Taerae pulled up to his house, the silence of the empty driveway a familiar sight. After saying goodbye to Gyuvin and watching him disappear into his own house, Taerae couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. The drive back was quick... his house was only a few blocks away... but the few minutes of solitude felt like hours.

Once inside, the emptiness greeted him. His parents and sister (lives somewhere else) were still gone, just like they usually were. He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter and made his way to his room. Without bothering to change out of his clothes, he collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as the day's events replayed in his mind.

Gyuvin and Ricky. The way Gyuvin had laughed with him, the way they seemed to click so easily. Taerae wanted to be happy for him... Gyuvin had found a new friend, someone who seemed genuinely nice. He knew he should be glad, relieved even. But the feeling gnawed at him, growing heavier with each passing minute. A twinge of jealousy crept into his thoughts, and he hated it.

As he stared at the ceiling, Taerae's mind wandered to the one thing he tried so hard to bury deep inside. His feelings for Gyuvin. The friendship had always been enough for him... at least, that’s what he convinced himself. But seeing Gyuvin getting closer to someone else made the reality harder to ignore. What if Gyuvin didn't need him anymore? What if, with Ricky around, Taerae was slowly becoming the afterthought?

His heart ached at the thought. He knew he couldn’t bring himself to tell Gyuvin how he truly felt. That secret was too fragile, too risky. Gyuvin was his best friend, and Taerae couldn’t bear the idea of losing him over something as complicated as feelings.

Still, lying there alone in his room, the house as quiet as ever, Taerae felt more alone than usual.

-

Gyuvin closed his bedroom door behind him, letting out a tired breath as the quiet of his house settled in. He moved through the familiar motions, heading straight to his bathroom and turning the shower on. The rush of hot water filled the room, and he stepped inside, hoping the warmth would ease the tension in his body. But as the water hit his skin, his mind began to wander, drifting back to the events of the day.

Gyuvin had just met him today, Taerae's college friend. At first, it had seemed like a casual introduction. Matthew had a bright energy about him, a kind of effortless charm that made it easy to see why he and Taerae clicked. But as the they started talking, Gyuvin found himself noticing how "close" they were. The way they teased each other, their inside jokes, and even the subtle touches that seemed to pass between them. They laughed together, their conversations flowing so naturally that Gyuvin had almost felt like an outsider at times.

And then there was the flirting. Gyuvin wasn’t sure if it was really 'flirting' maybe that’s just how they were... but there was a familiarity between them that made him feel strangely uneasy. He didn’t know Taerae could be like that with someone else. Taerae had always been his, in a way- his best friend, his closest confidant. Seeing Taerae be so close with Matthew made something stir in Gyuvin, something he couldn't quite identify.

He let out a frustrated breath as he leaned his forehead against the cool tiles of the shower wall. 'What is this feeling?' 'It wasn’t jealousy, was it?' That didn’t make sense. Taerae was like an older brother to him, someone he trusted completely, someone who had always been there for him. He'd never thought of their bond as something that could change, something that could be threatened by another person. But now, with Matthew in the picture, Gyuvin couldn’t shake this strange discomfort.

The water poured over him, but it didn’t wash away the thoughts spinning in his head. He tried to remind himself that this was normal. Taerae was allowed to have other friends, allowed to be close to other people. That didn’t change their friendship. But the nagging feeling in his chest wouldn’t go away. Was he afraid that Taerae would grow distant, that Matthew would take his place in Taerae's life?