3:44a.m. → taewin

003

11:43a.m
naka-kong cafe
— sicheng

yuta is a good friend, and he's there in his mother's cafe when sicheng turns up.

yuta's mother greets sicheng with a wave as he enters, and sicheng returns the gesture with a bright smile before heading to the table that yuta is seated at by the window. a hot chocolate is on the table in front of the empty seat, with marshmallows floating on top just like sicheng likes.

"hello," sicheng greets his friend, sitting down and placing his phone flat on the table, giving it a sideways glance before turning his attention fully to yuta. he's left a post-it note on the fridge back at the dorm with his number scrawled across it in case taeyong needs to contact him, but sicheng assumes that he's likely just going to ignore it. ah well.

"hi." yuta hums, putting down his own cup of coffee and grinning over at sicheng, "what'd you want to meet me for?" sicheng knows that yuta is well-acquainted enough with his mannerisms to know that when sicheng sends him something along the lines of what he'd sent yuta before that something is up.

"i just wanted to talk about my new roommate." sicheng makes that much clear as he sips his hot chocolate, and yuta's face falls for a split second. sicheng feels a stab of guilt deep within his stomach. he feels like he's said something wrong. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean—"

"no, no, it's fine." yuta interrupts quickly, "i just... well. his name is lee taeyong, right?"

sicheng nods, the guilt in his stomach being replaced with a rising sense of suspicion. yuta only gets like this when he doesn't like something, or if he knows something is wrong.

"he's got white hair, right? a really sharp face?" again, sicheng nods in response to yuta's questions. yuta seems a little disappointed that they're talking about the same lee taeyong. sicheng wonders why but he doesn't press yuta for an explanation.

a comfortable silence settles across the table between the two men as yuta gazes out of the window across the street, trying his very best to figure out the best way to phrase his words. sicheng can't help but compare the silence to the awful, tension-filled silence in the kitchen with taeyong that morning. it's strange, how atmospheres can change so easily depending on the people one is with.

after what feels like an eternity, yuta sits up. "i'm kind of upset that he's your first roommate." he states, chewing on his lip with a deep frown (which makes sicheng reach out and place a hand on yuta's arm, because he doesn't like seeing his friend frowning like that).

"he can't be that bad." sicheng states, always one to try and see the good in people no matter how they act towards him. "just a little grumpy."

yuta smiles briefly, almost distractedly, at his friend's innocence. "ah, it's not that." he pauses briefly, "you know why he's been moved into your dorm, right?"

come to think of it, sicheng never asked. he just sort of asked what he was doing there. "no, i don't."

"sicheng!" yuta sounds mildly exasperated, almost disappointed. "one of these days, i swear..." he shakes his head, flicking sicheng's finger gently and smiling when sicheng pouts and retracts his hand again. "you need to ask people what they're doing in your dorm if they just walk in out of nowhere, sichengie. especially since it's such a weird time in the year to be changing dorms." he gives sicheng a pointed look from the other side of the table, as if he's trying to hint to sicheng that he should've asked about that too. sicheng folds his arms across his chest defensively, but stays quiet. he prefers to let yuta just talk in situations like this.

"taeyong most likely got moved into your dorm because he got kicked out of his last one." yuta begins to explain now, and that comes as a surprise to sicheng. why would he get kicked out? taeyong didn't look like the type to really do anything wrong.

"what do you know about him?" sicheng asks almost tentatively, almost as if he doesn't really want to know. yuta always knows the good and bad things about people at the university, and sometimes the bad outweighed the good. he hoped this wasn't the case for taeyong.

yuta is quiet for another moment or two, allowing sicheng to continue drinking his hot chocolate. he thinks about what yuta has just said as he does - that taeyong likely got kicked out of his dorm.

he doesn't know why, but the notion makes him vaguely uncomfortable.

yuta pipes up after another couple of moments tick by, and he sighs. sicheng sits up straight in his chair, ready to listen, but yuta shakes his head. "i don't actually know that much about him." he confesses, "he's kind of reserved, but... i have what i've heard from others. they might be rumours though."

"go on."

"well, i know that he's been kicked out of a dorm before." yuta begins, tapping his nails against the table and stopping the action when he sees sicheng giving him an unimpressed glare because he's never liked the sound of nails against anything. "i know that his background is a bit sketchy, and that he's been involved with some questionable people. that's it though. i'm sorry."

sicheng doesn't press any further. "it's fine." he doesn't want to know any more because he's already nervous after just hearing that.

the silence blankets the table again until sicheng's phone buzzes twice and he checks it. it's a text from an unknown number.

unknown
12:13p.m
which side of the bathroom
do u want - ty

sicheng almost drops his phone and drink simultaneously. he really wasn't expecting taeyong to pay any attention to the post-it at all, and he's genuinely surprised that he did.

sicheng
12:14p.m
left please

he tries to maintain his dignity in text form, being ever polite and using manners even though they're not face-to-face.

unknown
12:16p.m
k

the messages stop after that which is both disappointing and relieving. sicheng hesitates for a moment, but ends up entering the info section of his texts and typing. he's adding him as a contact and he has the perfect name.

scary taeyong has been added as a contact!