3:44a.m. → taewin

004

12:52p.m
dorms
— taeyong

"you know what? i prefer this dorm to your old one."

taeyong rolls his eyes at the words of his best friend, yoonoh, and turns his attention to his phone in his hand. yoonoh's been begging all morning to come and see his new dorm because he's in a completely different block this time, and yoonoh apparently wanted to see the new layout. he's finished inspecting every little bit of furniture for now, though, and so yoonoh and his girlfriend aeri have joined taeyong on the couch to watch some boring tv program and talk about whatever subjects that come to mind.

"i don't." taeyong confesses, and it's true. the layout of this block means that the rooms are weirdly-shaped, and they're not airy enough for his liking. the last block he lived in had massive rooms with big windows and plenty of natural light, but in comparison these rooms seem positively cramped. taeyong hates it, but he supposes this is what he gets after being kicked out of two really nice dorms.

"i'd swap with you if i could." yoonoh states simply, stretching out on the couch and resting his feet on the glass coffee table opposite them, "mind, what's your new roommate like? you have one, right? i remember you saying something about this place only belonging to one guy before you moved in."

taeyong honestly wants to roll his eyes again. of course yoonoh wants to know about sicheng, but what can taeyong tell him? that he's chinese, probably. that's about it. "he's—"

"he's here." aeri interrupts with a sharp hiss through her teeth, elbowing taeyong in the side all of a sudden to stop him talking, and such a display of random aggression from aeri takes taeyong by surprise because aeri is always so nice and sweet, even to him. still, he directs his attention to the door and sure enough, it's opening slowly so it won't make any noise, and as soon as it's wide enough for a person to fit through, sicheng slips inside and starts closing it just as quietly.

he's trying to be sneaky, it seems.

"hi, sicheng!" aeri calls across the room, and both taeyong and sicheng do a triple take — sicheng because he must've had no clue there was anyone but taeyong in the flat, and taeyong because he had no fucking idea that aeri even knew who sicheng was. he hasn't even mentioned his name to the two on the couch even once today.

taeyong tries not to stare, even though he really wants to — even if he's acting so hostile to sicheng, he still can't deny that sicheng is pretty. he's got that kind of gentle, soft look that taeyong loves (which was the reason he dated doyoung for half a year — he's cute, almost painfully so, and taeyong always has been into particularly cute-looking guys, even if it's a secret he will take with him to the grave). he decides that the tv is the most interesting thing in the room, and he focuses on that.

"hi." he hears sicheng's voice just barely over the sound of the tv because it's so quiet. he sounds a bit intimidated, and taeyong doesn't know how he feels about it.

aeri is relentless when it comes to maintaining conversation, as always, and taeyong almost feels bad for sicheng. "you're taeyong's new roommate? that's cool! now we can see each other outside of dance class, right? maybe we can become friends."

taeyong shoots aeri a quick glare — no, no he doesn't want that at all. he wants sicheng to stick to his own friend group and aeri to stick to her own. aeri just gives taeyong that bright smile she always has, and taeyong frowns, glancing up to sicheng to see his reaction.

he's looking at him — has been this whole time. now sicheng knows that taeyong doesn't want aeri to hang out with him.

sicheng sort of shrinks under taeyong's gaze, and steps back. "i—i need to go and work on this project." he stutters, and without even giving anyone on the couch a chance to respond, he hurries away to his room and closes the door. taeyong watches him the whole way, looking back to the other two once the door is closed.

yoonoh is giving him a look, one that taeyong isn't exactly comfortable with. in response, taeyong stretches one of his long legs over aeri and kicks yoonoh in the arm. "what?"

"why is he so scared?" yoonoh questions him, and taeyong vaguely feels like he's in an interrogation. he shifts, retracting his leg so he can sit cross-legged on the couch instead. he doesn't face yoonoh. he keeps his gaze on the tv.

"i don't know. maybe he's just shy." he's always been one for defending himself in situations like this. aeri, unfortunately, has always been one to grass taeyong up.

"he's shy, but he's not that shy. taeyong, he looks scared. what did you do?" her voice holds a strong note of concern, and taeyong can't help but scoff. ah, aeri is always so concerned for other people. it's almost admirable. almost.

taeyong is about to do his usual stay-silent-to-avoid-looking-guilty thing, but he can feel both aeri and yoonoh staring at him in search of an answer. "fine, fucking fine." he grumbles, folding his arms over his chest almost as self-defence, "i just don't want to talk to him. he's too friendly."

"so you were a dick to him, that's what you're implying here." yoonoh is spot on. taeyong knows he was being a dick but somehow he doesn't really feel bad. "god, taeyong, i know you're pissed about being kicked out of another dorm but don't take it out on a kid like sicheng. at least try to be nice."

"listen—" taeyong doesn't even manage to get a word in edgeways.

"no, taeyong. you should probably apologise to the poor kid." yoonoh's giving him that look again and taeyong caves. yoonoh turns the tv off while he waits for taeyong to reply, so taeyong doesn't have an excuse to be 'distracted'.

"fine." is all he says, a childish pout forming on his lips. he hears aeri laugh from beside him, and he shoots her a glare.

yoonoh brings back the peace as always. "alright, alright. me and aeri should probably leave you to it." he states, getting up from the couch and helping aeri up too, "see you later, taeyong." he blows taeyong a playful kiss, which taeyong proceeds to mime hitting out of the air with a wrinkle of his nose. yoonoh just laughs, and takes aeri by the hand, shaking his head and leading her out. aeri gives taeyong a wave when she's in the doorway and then the door closes.

now they're gone, the dorm is cloaked in silence. taeyong can't even hear anything from sicheng's room. no typing, no music, no humming, no snoring. nothing.

it's too much for taeyong so he gets up, connecting his phone to his portable speaker and taking it into the kitchen with him so he can listen to some music while he's making some food. with a bit of internal conflict, too, taeyong decides to make just enough food for two people. half for him, half for sicheng.

whether sicheng actually comes to join taeyong for food is his choice.