WoBaozhewo
Pairing: blohyuk
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Staplers and Other Things to Be Thankful For
Tablo was scared.
Yes, he was scared shitless.
In all honesty, he never, could never have imagined that his plan would work so well. Oh, god, so so so very well.
He was beyond celebration, beyond coherency, beyond flying higher than the heavens.
He was – to put simply and in the least cliché way possible – in full ecstasy.
The only problem now...
"OH MY FUCKING GOD. JUST CALL HIM ALREADY YOU FUCKING LOSER. I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANY MORE!!!" yelled a large, menacing voice.
The owner of said voice hurtled a stapler at Tablo's head.
He ducked it. "HEY, WHAT THE HELL!? THAT WAS A FUCKIN' STAPLER!"
"JUST FUCKING CALL HIM!" demanded Jin, shoving Tablo's cell into his chest. "Before I fuckin' call him for you, you freak!" He turned and collapsed on the couch behind him. "And before I fuckin' kill you. God," he hissed in frustration.
Tablo stared at the phone in his hands.
It had been about three days and two hours since Hyukjae left his sights with still mussed-up hair (evidence of Tablo's roaming fingers), a shy smile with still swollen lips (evidence of Tablo's kiss), and a shaky, "I-I'll s-see you then." (evidence of everything, really). Needless to say, he desperately wanted to hear his voice (Oh, that voice that whimpered and whispered and cried out his name).
But he couldn't. He was scared. What if he seemed too eager? Too desperate? Why did they even jump into bed that fast!? Why did the kid agree!? Tablo didn't even know if he knew his name before that night.
His plan was a success by definition. The goal had been reached: Get Hyukjae, make Tablo known. But why did it all feel like a complete failure?
Tablo had wanted him, and Hyukjae definitely wanted him back, but... maybe not in the way that he had hoped.
"I... think I'll go for a walk," he said softly.
He found himself at the familiar oak on campus again and just his luck, Hyukjae was at his usual spot, pounding his head on a textbook. His Hyukjae was such a weird kid, so very lovable, but so weird. My Hyukjae? Tablo had to smile a little – his first since the afterglow wore off.
Before he could finish his serious contemplation of what that thought signified, another boy showed up. By the way he just plopped onto that seat, he and Hyukjae must have been comfortable friends. Hyukjae looked... flustered. Tablo couldn't really tell what was going on from where he stood, but a small part in the back of his mind was in a frenzy over what that reaction meant.
Out of no where, Hyukjae shot out of his seat, looking even more flushed. He was gone just as quickly, leaving the friend in open-mouthed shock.
There was a fleeting moment where Tablo swore he saw pained tears on Hyukjae's face, but the elusive boy moved too fast and all he was sure of was a backpack-wearing figure running off with his head bent low.
Anger flared up in the pit of his stomach and spread to every limb in his body. That kid, whoever the hell he was, didn't just do what Tablo thought he did. If so... kid was gonna pay.
The next few seconds were a blur and all he knew was that he was standing directly in front of this feminine-looking, dangly earring wearing bastard that made hisHyukjae cry.
"Hey, what's your name?" Tablo asked, only to receive a bewildered, confused stare and uncomfortable silence in return.
"Fine, I'll cut to the chase. Did you just make Hyukjae cry?" A bit of his outrage slipped out before he could rein it in.
There was a small silence before the situation registered on the boy's face. Making a noise of understanding, he inquired, "And what of it... Tablo?"
Alarm must have plainly colored his face because the boy continued, "You're that rapper from that hip hop group, right?"
He nodded slowly, still not fully grasping what was going on.
"So you're the one that Hyukjae stayed out all night for. You think if you sleep with him once, he's yours? I don't think so." He smirked and leaned lazily with arms crossed on the tabletop. "Or else he'd be mine 100 times over."
The anger Tablo felt before was nothing compared to the seething rage he felt now. "The fuck did you just say?" he gritted out, sounding calmer than he was, but became extremely taken aback as the boy doubled over in a fit of laughter.
He struggled to catch his breath. "Huuu~hahaha, sorry, I... haha... I couldn't hold it. Me and Hyukkie—" he snickered again. "Sorry! Just the thought is..." He made a gagging motion.
Tablo's hand flew up to cover his eyes. "Wait, wait, wait... Who are you?" he asked, incredulity flooding his tone.
The still laughing mound of boy fought to sit up straight, and chuckled, "I'm your worst nightmare." He put on a pensive expression. "Actually, probably not, but I'm pretty bad," he said with a smile which, on closer inspection, resembled a sneer. "Lee Sungmin. I'm Hyukjae's roommate," the pretty boy greeted. "Were you looking for him?"
Roommate? Tablo's rage slowly dissipated as he let this new information sink in. "Yeah... he just left, right?"
Sungmin stood up, eyes narrowing. "Look, don't fuck around," he said, words becoming more cutting with each syllable. "If you want a toy, there're plenty of easy lays out there. Hyukjae's not one of them, so go whore-hopping somewhere else."
"I'm not just fucking around," Tablo asserted, also moving to lean forward on the table, now staring eye to eye with his accuser.
"You must really like our lil' Hyukjae~" Sungmin sang, with a hint of mocking. Before Tablo could even blush, he added, slightly blasé, "Do you make it a habit of fucking Biology students and then toying with their feelings?"
"I would never toy with Hyukjae," the rapper – his more striking vocabulary out of grasp at the moment – stated, so indignant he was at even the thought that he was capable of such a deed. That would be the last thing that Tablo would ever want to do. How could this kid even think that—
"Then why haven't you called him yet?" the girlish, yet intimidating boy asked blankly.
"I—" Under the judgmental gaze of this stranger, Tablo didn't really know what to say in reply. What could he say? "I was suffocating in my own desperation to see Hyukjae again, but the fear that he would think I was crazy sort of stopped me"? Or even better, "We had half-drunken sex and I'm not sure if he really liked me, so I decided to stalk him for a bit instead."
He settled for looking sheepish and guilty, eyes roaming off to stare at the atrociously beautiful campus building ahead.
"Alright, alright, that's enough," the boy said, standing back straight, with a smirk marring his innocent features. "I know all about you and your little thing for our Hyukkie." Tablo could feel Sungmin giving him a dirty look, shaming him even further. "You should just call him. He hasn't cried yet. He's trying to be cool, like it's not affecting him... but I know he wants to." He paused to consider Tablo's stature and leaned over the table again, "If I find out you hurt him. In any way. Any way at all. I will hurt you. And I don't make meaningless threats."
He then smiled, "He gets out of class in an hour. Good luck~!" and turned to stroll off, leaving a very baffled Tablo behind.
His mind was in a complete whirlwind. That kid. That... Sungmin just left him with all these unanswered questions. Were they talking about him before Hyukjae left in a mad rush? Was he flustered over how he hadn't called back? Was he worried? God, please let him be worried. Because that would mean...
It would mean Tablo didn't need to be scared anymore. Just the thought gave him that swirl of butterflies, and that familiar soaring feeling. The same feeling as when he had Hyukjae in his arms and held him in the closest way possible and was engulfed by his scent and...
Trying to process this information all at once was confusing as hell. But in a single moment of clarity, everything seemed to click in place.
Hyukjae... wanted him. Tablo didn't know how much, or even if it was like how he wanted Hyukjae, but—fuck it. He wanted him enough that Tablo got terrorized by his roommate. If that wasn't a signal to fucking get on that train, he didn't know what was.
The sun seemed to shine brighter that very moment.
TBC...
