When lunch time begins, Taeyong meets up with Ten. He is his usual cheerful self.
“Some guys I met yesterday invited us to join them for lunch” Taeyong informs him.
“Already making friends, are you?” Ten teases him as they enter the cafeteria. “Who are they?”
He sees Johnny and Yuta waving at them from the table at the back of the spacious hall. “It’s them. They are Jaehyun’s friends” he points at them.
“Oh my god, you idiot” Ten painfully elbows him. “That’s the creepy guy who keeps staring at me all the time.”
Taeyong finally understands why they were laughing when he mentioned Ten the day before. “I’m sorry” he apologises. “But we can’t go back now. They have already seen us.” Ten reluctantly follows him.
Johnny looks very excited when they sat at the table. He is almost blushing. Taeyong glares at Hansol when he mistakenly kicks his feet thinking it is Johnny’s. Doyoung, who is sitting between Ten and Johnny, gets up and leaves saying he has some unfinished homework. Everyone knows it is a lie.
Jaehyun keeps gobbling up the food from Taeyong’s lunchbox as he gives him a dirty look.
“So, Ten” Yuta says. “How do you know Taeyong?”
“We knew each other since we were in the same elementary school. Childhood friends, I guess we are something like that,” he replies.
“I know you two are friends, but you don’t seem like the types who would normally hang out together,” Jaehyun remarks.
“ I know,” Ten says endearingly. “But that is only how it seems. Taeyong acts brash but he is actually soft on the inside.”
"NO! I'M NOT!!" Taeyong protests when the boys start teasing him. They all laugh. Noticing that Johnny has been unusually quiet all this time, he decides to get back at Ten. "Johnny, I heard you play the piano. Ten doesn't it too. The two of you should play together sometimes."
Johnny's cheeks turn into an even deeper shade of red, even though he doesn't usually seem like someone who is easily flustered.
"I already know that. He's my classmate" Ten says in a flat tone. "You know, Taeyong is really wife material. He's such a neat freak."
"That's ist!" Yuta points out. Ten rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out. "I can see why you like him now, Johnny" he says. Johnny looks so betrayed. "He's cute."
"Hey! Don't hit on him. He's Johnny’s!" Hansol jokingly punches Yuta in the arm.
"Excuse me! Stop talking like I'm an object. I belong to nobody!" Ten shouts at him and Johnny winces. They all continue to banter.
In the middle of the lunch, a boy walks up to them. He has a lean but sturdy figure. He bends and whispers something into Jaehyun's ears. When he finishes, Jaehyun gets up and says he has to go away and leaves.
"Thanks God Doyoung isn't here" Yuta says. "These boys really get in his nerves."
"Why?" Taeyong asks.
"Nothing. It's just his thing" he says and moves on to talk about other stuff. It seems like Ten has warmed up to Johnny despite his preconceptions after talking to him. Even Johnny has started getting involved into the conversation. Taeyong assumes that it wouldn't be too awkward for Ten if he leaves the table. He tells them he has to go to the bathroom because his teachers are really strict about giving a hall pass during lessons.
As he walks down the corridor, he wonders where Jaehyun has gone and what business that boy has with him. He goes to the restroom and into the cubicle. Someone bangs on the wall of his cubicle and gasps. He kicks the wall back. The gasping and panting continue and he wonders what in the world the people in the next cubicle could be doing.
Someone s. Well, it doesn't take an extremely creative imagination to figure out what they are doing now.
He quickly gets out of the cubicle and goes to wash his hands.
"The lesson is starting in 10 minutes. We need to finish up" Taeyong overhears one of them say. He can't even guess how many people there could be in that cubicle. It may be able to fit three if they squeezed enough. After much rustling, he hears the door unlock. When he looks up, the reflection in the mirror reveals Jaehyun and the boy from earlier. His heart sinks a bit. There is an unsettling tingling in his chest. The boy hurries out, leaving just him and Jaehyun in the restroom. He looks down and keeps washing his hands.
"Aren't you gonna say something?" Jaehyun asks, breaking the silence.
Taeyong doesn't understand why Jaehyun is the one doing "stuff" but him the one feeling embarrassed. "Well, there is not much to say, is there?" Taeyong sighs. "So... you're gay?"
"I thought that was pretty evident," Jaehyun mutters.
"I don't like to assume things about people," Taeyong says.
"That's not how I remember you five years ago." he smirks.
Why is he smiling? Shouldn't he be nervous? Taeyong wonders.
"Don't worry" Jaehyun says. He somehow seems to read his mind. "I came out of the closet years ago. Everyone already knows."
He doesn't know what to say so he stays silent. Jaehyun puts a hand on his shoulder and Taeyong's heart starts pounding. Why am I scared? I've done nothing wrong but to be unfortunate enough to witness these two go at it.
Jaehyun's face is right next to his now. Taeyong hopes he cannot hear his ragged breathing because he might get the wrong idea and think he is the cause of it. The pounding in his heart even gets even louder as Jaehyun comes closer. He gulps, hoping to get rid of the hot lump in his throat.
"I thought you wouldn't be that surprised about this. This is an all boys’ school, for God's sake" Jaehyun laughs. "Look, even your cheeks are bright red now."
"I'm not surprised. Not at all! I'm not a kid" Taeyong lies (about not being surprised XD).
The bell for the next lesson chimes. Taeyong thanks the heavens for saving him from this awkwardness.
"I gotta go" he says. He is relieved he doesn't have Physics until the next day. He can't look at Jaehyun and not think about this incident now.
"See you around" Jaehyun shouts from behind.
