Taemin shivered, his hair and face drenched with the melting snow, as he stood, glaring at the passing cars on the busy Seoul street. His hands buried deeper into his coat pockets as he tried to stay warm.
Taemin huffed as a nearby clock rang, signalling 4pm.
"Half an hour late," Taemin mouthed as he regarded the pavement in front of him buzzing with passers, the constant stream of cars and the small clinking sound of people entering and leaving the cafe he stood in front of.
Taemin was disappointed; not exactly disappointed at his in unarrival, but in the fact that his phone didn't once vibrate with neither a call nor a text. "Careless," Taemin decided, "and sloppy." His heart stung, yet his partner, his lover, was not with him to soothe it, especially when his boyfriend was the one at fault.
Taemin sighed, giving up. What was the point of staying any longer? It was humiliating. He stepped forward, joining the people, like a stray fish joining a school of fishes. He bowed his head, shuffling among all types of people.
"Tae." The small word flew past Taemin, and he gasped when a pair of arms engulfed him.
"I'm sorry." Jonghyun's hands scrambled to wrap around the younger's waist. Taemin shook with either anger or sadness — he didn't know — while Jonghyun sighed contently, as his eyes stared at Taemin's shocked face. The younger wished he had the urge to step away, spin on his heel and walk off. He really fucking wished he could. Instead, he buried his head into his own chest, chin touching collarbones, as he let jonghyun cradle him. As they stood, people moved around them, some glancing at the two boys stuck in their own bubble.
Taemin coughed; his hands lifted out of their pockets to tap at jonghyun's chest, who hummed and stepped back. The younger studied Jonghyun: his messy bleached hair, his t-shirt and jeans hazardly on his frame, and his puffy coat, thankfully thrown over him.
"Y-you didn't even put in any effort?" Taemin hiccuped, his mouth twisting into a scowl. Jonghyun let out a breathless small laugh,
"I-"
"Save it," Taemin's voice quivered, "I want to go home."
"Let us at least go to the cafe," Jonghyun gently nudged Taemin back, practically herding him towards the coffee shop.
"Why should I go there with you, after you kept me waiting half an hour, without calling or texting?" Taemin mumbled out the words, his nails digging crescents into the elder's hand. Jonghyun winced and blanched, which Taemin would laugh at, if he wasn't in such a crappy mood, as well as now dripping wet.
Jonghyun ignored the younger's question, pulling him into the coffee shop. After leading him to a cosy booth in one of the further dimly lit areas, he let his hands rub Taemin's wet black strands of hair, let his hands glide across Taemin's damp cheek, despite the blush blooming on both of their faces at the elder's open affection.
"Stay here, I'll grab us something." Jonghyun pulled up a smile for Taemin, who only nodded and slumped in his seat.
Jonghyun chose a foamy hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, despite the extra 50 pence — he was going to treat Taemin after all he put him through today. He also picked up a carefully chosen muffin, then absentmindedly chose a flapjack and a cappuccino for himself. The lady at the counter spelt his name wrong: "jokyung", but he wasn't going to blow his lid off about it this time. Especially not on such a miserable-looking day, with his boyfriend sulking in the corner. He just passed an unimpressed look to the server and waited.
With a tray in his hands, jonghyun made his way back to Taemin, startled to find the earlier-reluctant Taemin with his coat off, sitting up like a hungry puppy.
"Thanks." He murmured when the elder passed him his drink and muffin. Jonghyun sat, pressing his lips to his cup, letting the burning liquid scald his tongue. Taemin, instead, bobbed a marshmallow.
"Okay, so I guess I have to explain myself now." Jonghyun nodded to himself.
"Yep, I was waiting for you to start." Taemin looked at him expectantly. Jonghyun would've rubbed his fingertips on Taemin's wonderfully flushed cheeks at least ten times by now, if not for the situation they were in.
"So," Jonghyun cleared his throat, "my music professor asked me to show me the pieces I prepared for my exam next week." Jonghyun watched Taemin's shoulders relax,
"And, he wanted to discuss some potential modifications. I feel really sorry about this; you know I'd never willingly ditch you." Jonghyun's head hung low, biting his lip.
The two boys had recently been going through a rough patch, with Taemin smashing a mirror the last time they had seen eachother, a week ago, and Jonghyun was hoping to reconcile in some way today, which now, did not seem like the case.
Jonghyun's hand twitched when it became covered by Taemin's.
"It's fine,Jjong," Taemin let a small embarrassed smile creep onto his face, "it's not like I was going to stay mad for long."
"What does this... mean then?" Jonghyun's voice was hopeful.
"I want you to do well next week; just a little heads up next time?" Taemin's mouth grimaced a tiny bit, waving away his wet fringe. Jonghyun nodded, his hand hovering over Taemin's hair.
"And," Taemin laughed, "I'm sorry for your mirror, by the way." Jonghyun's extended hand came down to pat the younger,
"Never mind that, I just- I miss you." Jonghyun looked at Taemin wistfully,
"Yeah, I missed you too."
Taemin looked out of his comfort zone, his reserved nature limited him in moments like this. At times like this, Taemin would normally joke "at least, you're enough expressive for the both of us." And then it'd turn into a discussion about Jonghyun's latest instance of sensitivity. However, Taemin's lips seemed zipped now.
"What went wrong the past few weeks?" Jonghyun asked, more to himself than to Taemin. Taemin hummed thoughtfully,
"I guess we've grown apart." The younger concluded. Jonghyun's head lifted up to meet Taemin's gaze. The black-haired boy across him seemed troubled and hesitant; Jonghyun became worried.
"Where are you going with this?" Jonghyun's voice quivered, fearing the foreign look on Taemin's face.
"I- oh god Jonghyun, this is as hard for me as it is for you, okay?" Taemin bit his lip and a frustrated growl threatened to come out of Jonghyun,
"You- you want to break up, don't you?" Everything clicked in Jonghyun's mind.
"I don't know, I guess? You would concentrate on your music, I'd join that ballet school in Japan.." Taemin trailed off,
"You'd find someone better perhaps." Jonghyun winced as he heard Taemin's words and anger bubbled up, how could he find someone better than Taemin?
Taemin didn't wait for Jonghyun to reply.
"Let's just break it off cleanly now, before you or I call at three am, drunk as a skunk, screaming curses at the other," Taemin pulled on a weak smile, "It's for the best."
Taemin leaned across the table, pecking Jonghyun's lips for the last time. Jonghyun tensed at the contact but grabbed Taemin's shoulder, clutching the younger.
Taemin wriggled away and stood up, waving Jonghyun a goodbye before scuttling out the shop quickly, as if he was walking on hot coals.
At that moment, it fully dawned on Jonghyun that this wasn't just Taemin making a fuss, and that they won't be meeting up infront of the park gates, and that they won't kiss, hug or even glance at eachother again. At that moment, the crushing feeling of emptiness dawned on Jonghyun. It was mortifying.
